The Fallout
by Shamira
Summary: What if both Liz and Sonny couldn't remember he left before she was pushed? What if a mistaken Liz told the PCPD and Ric it was Sonny? How deeply will Ric's twisted quest for revenge affect the people of PC and the couples Journey, S&C, LiRic & ZEm?
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

Starts off from the end of the 5/23/03 episode (where Faith pushed Liz down the stairs).  
Very different in some ways and—surprising to me, since I worked out most of the plot the weekend after that episode, having not read _any_ spoilers—not so different in others from what the actual show did. This fic does not begin as very romantic, but there will be more focus on relationships (mainly those of S&C, Journey, LiRic, and Zem, but just because I list them here doesn't mean they'll all survive…) in later chapters, after the plot gets laid out. Please stick with me a little while! Thanks for reading, and if you like it or not, please review.

**Disclaimer:**

I am in no way affiliated with General Hospital or ABC, and none of the characters in this story, aside from the few I may or may not create, belong to me.

**The Fallout**

**Chapter One**

Elizabeth Webber stood alone on the deck of Rice Plaza. She hugged herself as she stared out at the water peacefully lapping the docks of Port Charles. A cool breeze tugged at her shoulder-length brown hair and baby blue jacket. She pulled the coat closer around her, straightening the shoulder strap of her small pocketbook. She looked so sweet, so innocent. Once her personality had matched her appearance. Before Sonny's half-brother had changed her, turned her against him. Sonny was all of a sudden the bad guy. Elizabeth was too blind in love to see what Ric Lansing was: a kidnapper, murderer, blackmailer, pathological liar, almost rapist. She couldn't see beyond the Ivy League facade. She was in for a violently rude awakening one day. It was a pity. She had once been such a nice girl.

With a sigh, Sonny pushed through the double glass doors and stepped onto the plaza. "Wait inside," he ordered his bodyguard. He didn't like having bodyguards following him and his family everywhere, but he couldn't take any risks. Not after the car bomb.

"Yes, sir." Max obediently retreated within, moving far enough away from the glass so he could see, but not hear, what went on.

Elizabeth turned to Sonny with a toss of her head. Her sapphire-emerald eyes were shining, her dimpled chin held high. Sonny's gaze strayed to her belly. She was not yet showing her pregnancy.

Sonny walked over to her, crossing his arms over his chest when he stood directly in front of Elizabeth. "What is it you need to tell me about Ric?"

Elizabeth held up her left hand, which sported a diamond engagement ring and a golden wedding band. "Your brother and I got married last night."

Sonny wasn't surprised. Ric had already told him he was going to marry Elizabeth, given that as his reason for letting go of his twisted vendetta. Sonny was willing to believe the family part, but not about the vendetta. Ric blamed Sonny for everything bad that had happened to their mother—her fall down the stairs, her deciding to keep Sonny but give Ric up for adoption, her marriage to the abusive Deke. Sonny had pushed her, Sonny hadn't wanted a brother or a father, Sonny had been the one who put Adella in the hospital, not Deke. True, it was Ric's father Trevor who had fed him all these lies, but Ric was a grown man and responsible for his actions. And Ric wasn't about to give up on his quest for revenge.

Elizabeth waited for Sonny to comment, but he did not. "Look, Ric had nothing to do with the car bomb, or the drug set up. Ric is no longer a threat to you. You don't have to kill him."

Sonny offered an abbreviated laugh. "He told you this, didn't he?"

"It's the truth, Sonny!" Elizabeth's eyes flashed. "I need your word that he will be safe."

So this was what she wanted. He shook his head. "I can't give you that."

"You know what? You are not God, Sonny. You do not decide who lives and who dies. I stayed with you when Carly lost the baby. You owe me for that. And this is how you will pay me back." Elizabeth gave another toss of her head.

All sound faded from Sonny's hearing and all surroundings from his vision. All he heard was Elizabeth's breathing. All he saw was this girl Ric had brainwashed. Ric let Carly think he'd raped her, and, even worse, he'd allowed her to worry about the paternity of her and Sonny's baby. Yet Elizabeth dared to bring up the loss of his and Carly's first unborn child? And demand that he let Ric, pure slime, live in order to pay her back for keeping him company? "Your twisted, rapist husband is not a good person, Elizabeth. I will not promise you anything. My debt is paid. Never come to me again."

Elizabeth looked shocked that he'd spoken to her in such a way. So what? He didn't owe her anything, especially when it came to Ric.

Sonny opened one of the glass doors and left her, never looking back.

* * *

Faith Roscoe covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Oh, this was priceless. She couldn't let an opportunity like this pass her by. She'd given Elizabeth a little nudge in the right direction—the right direction for Faith, anyway—making her think Sonny believed Ric was responsible for the car bomb and intended to kill him. Now, if Elizabeth were to slip and tumble down the stairs that lead up to Rice Plaza and get a concussion or, better, lose the wretched baby…well, wouldn't it be damn unfortunate for Sonny? Naturally, Ric would assume his brother, the ever-so-slightly mentally unstable control freak mobster Sonny Corinthos, had pushed her. How sad.

Elizabeth moved to the stairs. Faith, hardly containing her glee, gave her a one-handed shove.

* * *

"Ric Lansing's here to see you."

Carly Corinthos looked at her best friend, Courtney Matthews, now engaged to her other best friend, Jason Morgan, and rolled her eyes so far back she could almost see the top of her head. "Tell him to go away," she instructed Marco, the doorman.

Ric brushed past the bodyguard. "This will only take a minute."

"Oh, fine," Carly said, not budging from the couch where she, Courtney, and a bag of contraband potato chips were positioned.

"I just wanted to tell Sonny that Elizabeth and I got married last night."

"Wow. Did you blackmail her too or just kidnap her and force her into it?" Courtney inquired innocently. Carly smirked.

"That's none of your business," Ric snapped. "She and I are leaving the country, and I thought Sonny would like to be made aware of our movements." He headed for the door.

Carly stuffed a potato chip in her mouth. "So maybe that's why Elizabeth dragged my husband off."

Ric turned around with a frown. "Elizabeth is meeting Sonny?"

"Married less than twenty four hours and already keeping secrets." Carly smirked, offering Courtney the bag of chips. Courtney selected one and munched on it.

"Where? When?"

Carly swallowed. "Rice Plaza. Now. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

* * *

Ric jogged up the stairs to Rice Plaza, speculating as he went as to why his new bride had asked Sonny to meet her. It didn't make sense. He'd told Elizabeth that he had given up his vendetta, and so long as he kept his word and stayed away from Sonny's family, his brother the mobster would not come after him. Or so he hoped. It was hard to tell with Sonny. One minute the man said he couldn't kill him because he was their mother's son, the next he had his goons drag him to his penthouse and shouted he didn't care who he was. Well, he couldn't exactly blame Sonny for the inconsistencies. The car bomb must have really spooked him. It wasn't often that someone got so close to Sonny Corinthos and his family.

Ric paused a moment, wondering who _was_ coming after Sonny. It didn't matter, he supposed. Sonny was a control freak and a psychopath. He'd be more than happy if someone dismantled the empire Sonny had built, but he would have nothing to do with bringing the mob boss down. Now that he was married and had a baby of his own on the way, he didn't want anything to happen to Carly, Michael, and the baby. No matter what Sonny had done to Ric, Ric's father, their mother, and anyone and everyone else, his family didn't deserve to pay for it.

Ah, well. This was Sonny's threat to deal with. He'd proven time and again that he could protect his family. Hell, if he couldn't manage it, and Jason couldn't manage it, Carly certainly could. Who could stand up to a furious, baseball-bat wielding, duct-tape using, gun-toting, drink drugger?

Time for Ric to concern himself with his wife. "Elizabeth!" he called, reaching the top step. The deck stretched before him, not a soul in sight. "Elizabeth!" he tried again. Maybe she was still nearby and would respond to his shouts. There was no answer. Either she and Sonny hadn't met yet, or they'd already finished their business. He headed for the stairs on the other side of the deck. He could get back to his apartment—_their_ apartment—and the love of his life sooner if he went that way.

He took the first few steps and then glanced at the bottom of the stairs. He froze. Elizabeth lay, motionless, at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh my God," he whispered. "Oh my God!" he said louder, racing down the remaining steps to his wife's side. He gingerly touched her back. "Elizabeth? Elizabeth, can you hear me?"

No answer.

He gently rolled her over, while thoughts in the foggy corners of his mind asked him if he should be doing that. What if her spinal cord was injured? What if it hurt the baby?

Blood trickled from a cut on Elizabeth's forehead, a bruise purpled the corner of her perfect full mouth. He pushed a lock of hair lovingly off her scraped cheek. "Come on, Elizabeth. Wake up, honey."

She offered no response.

His placed a hand on her stomach. The baby.

No, the baby was fine. His mother hadn't lost him when she fell—when Sonny _pushed_ her—down the stairs. Elizabeth wouldn't either.

Ric's eyes snapped to the stairs. His mother. Stairs. Falling. Sonny. Pushed. Meeting with Sonny. Anger exploded within him. He could hardly see straight. This was no accident. This had Sonny's name written all over it. Sonny had pushed their mother down the stairs so she wouldn't marry his father Trevor, so she wouldn't split her attention between him and a baby brother. His mother wouldn't give Sonny up for Trevor, so she'd instead put Ric up for adoption. Sonny needed to be in control. Ric's marrying Elizabeth and Elizabeth being pregnant somehow knocked Sonny out of control. And Sonny didn't like that. So Sonny had pushed Elizabeth down the stairs. He'd gone after Ric's family instead of Ric. He couldn't harm his mother's son, but he sure as hell could hurt his family!

"You will pay, Sonny. Oh, you will pay," Ric swore through gritted teeth.

But first there was Elizabeth and their unborn baby to worry about.


	2. Chapter Two

**The Fallout**

**Chapter Two**

Sonny spent most the elevator ride to his penthouse cooling off. Sounds faded back into his hearing and his vision cleared. His anger withered away, leaving him exhausted with a throbbing headache. Rubbing his temples, he stepped into the hall and shuffled to his door.

"Hey!" Carly greeted him, coming down the stairs as he walked in. He forced a smile for her. "Elizabeth probably told you; she and Ric got married last night. Ric stopped by to tell you. They're not exactly coordinated."

"Yeah, she told me." Sonny sank into the armchair while Carly curled up on the closer corner of the couch. She reached over and took his hand.

"There's something else, isn't there? What happened with Elizabeth?"

Sonny shrugged. "She claimed Ric had nothing to do with the car bomb. She wanted me to promise that he would be safe, after all that slime has done. I lost it. I can't even remember what happened at the end, I was so mad. I was seeing everything through this red haze I could have murdered Ric, right then and there in front of her, if he'd been there."

"I know the feeling."

Sonny tried to smile, but he couldn't. It wasn't funny. "You know, I used to think she was a nice girl, and now she's just like Ric. But I shouldn't have yelled at her. She doesn't need to be getting upset, you know, being pregnant."

"Hey, if Elizabeth didn't want to get yelled at, she shouldn't have brought up the subject of Ric. She knows how you feel about him, and she should have known better than to bring this up, after all that's happened."

"I don't want to talk about Ric, or Elizabeth. We're through with them. They don't matter. How's Michael?" Sonny changed the subject to their little boy. Michael was having trouble understanding why he had to stay in the penthouse, why he couldn't go to the park and ride his bike and play with Sonny's sister's golden retriever, Rosie. He must be scared, too. None of his friends had had the car they were about to ride in blow up right in their face.

Carly flicked a hand at the stairs. "I just got through talking to him. I _think_ he understands why we're keeping him inside, but I don't know. He's just a little boy. This can't be making much sense to him."

Sonny nodded in agreement, heading to the fireplace to pour a glass of water. "I don't like holding him prisoner, but there's not much of a choice. Not until I found out who's coming after me."

"You will, and then things will get back to normal."

Sonny took a sip of water. Funny, Carly referring to this life as normal. Normal was a house in the suburbs with a backyard for kids to play. Normal wasn't a home where guards kept an eye out for strangers, cars that blew up, men that took shots at you, strangers who wanted you and your family dead for no other reason then to get your territory. Men—and women, he added with a mental snigger, if he included the demented Faith—who wanted your power, your influence. But Sonny was in too deep. He couldn't get out, and he didn't want to. This was his life, the only life he knew.

Sonny swirled the clear liquid in his glass.

Normal.

Normal didn't exist.

---------------

Zander Smith paced the alley as the abandoned brick buildings and tall garbage disposals cast inky shadows around him. He paused to check his watch. He was early. Jason wouldn't show up for another twenty minutes.

He started pacing again. It was disgusting, the thought of someone purposely selling bad ecstasy at Carly Corinthos's club, just so Sonny would get accused of trafficking, or even accessory to murder, should one of the kids who took the pill die. And to think that kid could have been Maxie. He didn't know the girl all that well, but he'd had an insightful conversation with her during a power failure at General Hospital. They had only shared a few quick words since then, when they ran into each other at Kelly's, but she seemed nice, if maybe a little naive. At any rate, she didn't deserve to be involved in some intricate plot to end the reign of Sonny Corinthos over the East Coast's underworld.

When would these people get that they couldn't get the upper hand over Sonny? Sorel had tried. So had Roscoe, Alcazar, Roy DeLuca, Faith, Roscoe's widow, and that Ric Lansing guy. Each time, Sonny found who was threatening him, and then the threats were eliminated. Sometimes other people beat Sonny to the kill. It didn't matter. Either the threat died or was convinced that it was pointless to come after Sonny.

Zander shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had once tried to aid in destroying Sonny. He thought Maxie was naive, but maybe he should look at himself. He was lucky to be alive, after selling out information on Sonny's business to Roscoe and following Roy's order to poison a shipment of coffee beans to shut down the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. Sonny had ordered him killed, but he'd gotten lucky. Elizabeth had begged Sonny to let him live. Sonny had a soft spot for her, and he didn't want to see her hurt. Which was why Zander was walking around this alley today. He owed Elizabeth Webber his life.

"Don't move! Hold your hands up!"

Zander whirled around and froze, seeing the drug dealer who'd provided the bad ecstasy. Angry John was holding a gun on him with a shaking hand. "Whoa. Let's calm down." He did his best to keep his voice even. He didn't want to do anything to provoke John, who used the drugs he dealt, which made him jumpy. He might take any emotion in his voice the wrong way.

"You sold me out to Corinthos! You told him the drugs were from Miami, and Morgan's looking for me!"

"Just hold on, buddy. Sonny only wants to know where you're getting the drugs from. He doesn't want to kill you."

John wavered. "He doesn't?"

"We can go to him now, and you can tell him what you know. He'll let you go. He's decent like that. Willing to make deals."

John nodded jerkily. One of his eyes was twitching. "All right. I'll go."

Zander felt uncomfortable with a deadly weapon pointed at his chest. "Give me the gun first. Everything will be fine."

John slowly lowered the weapon, sweat beaded on his forehead, hands still shaking. Zander held out his hand. The motion was too quick for the easily agitated John, and he instantly brought the gun back up. Zander grabbed his arm and began grappling for the weapon. The gun went off, and white hot fire burned his right side. John turned and ran, while he fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen as something warm and wet trickled through his fingers.

---------------

"You should take me riding more often," Courtney said, smiling at Jason as she climbed off his motorcycle. He'd taken her to Kelly's to drop her off for her shift.

"If you like it, I will," Jason promised, taking the helmet for her and putting it on his bike. "Did you like it?"

Courtney's cheeks were flushed and her sapphire eyes were shining. He knew what her answer would be before she spoke. "God, yes! It was terrifying, going so fast, but it was wonderful. I felt safe, just having my arms around you."

Jason put a hand behind her neck and kissed her forehead. "We'll be doing it again, too. I'm sticking around until your shift is done, just in case anyone shows up to make trouble because you're Sonny's sister. I'll be taking you home."

Courtney grinned. "I can hardly—"

She jumped and both their heads whipped in the direction from which came the sound of a gunshot. Jason pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans and ran, kicking into enforcer mode. He rounded the corner into an alley.

Zander Smith lay on the pavement.

Jason looked around. There was no one else in sight. He tucked the gun away and dashed over.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Miami," Zander choked out. "John—he had a gun—went off—accident. But drugs—from Miami. Seemed really scared—of Sonny—and—guy he got—drugs from."

Courtney knelt beside him. Jason gave her his cell phone. "Call 911."

Courtney tore through her bag and came up with a handkerchief. "Try to stop the bleeding." With that, she punched in the number with shaking hands.

---------------

Faith Roscoe peered around the pillar. Ric was coddling the boring, accident-prone waitress in his arms. He'd called 911 on his cell phone a moment ago, providing the dispatcher with a frantic request for help. Occasionally, he looked around and muttered, "Where's the damn ambulance?" It was almost sickening to watch. How could he be so attached to this inexperienced little girl?

She smiled. Maybe not all her goals would be accomplished. Maybe this incident wouldn't drive Ric and Elizabeth apart. But her other objective had been fulfilled: Ric's once fiery desire to get revenge against Sonny had been rekindled. She'd seen him look from the perky-when-not-unconscious thing to the stairs and back again. He'd connected the dots. Elizabeth had been having a meeting with Sonny. And now little Lizzie…she wasn't doing too well, was she, lying unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs with all those scrapes and bruises? And dear big brother Sonny, who had that convenient temper and happened to despise Ric, was nowhere to be seen. One who didn't know better would think that he fled the scene of the crime. Pity Faith and Sonny, who Ric would never believe, were the only ones who knew better.

Faith covered her mouth to disguise a giggle. She was too good at this.

Now all she had to do was sit back and wait for Ric's call—the one where he'd suggest they partner up again to bring Sonny down. She would of course say yes. And they would of course succeed. And in the meantime, she could use all of her feminine charm to win Ric back from Elizabeth.

Yes, she liked this more and more the longer she thought about it.

Faith clicked her heels across the Plaza and went down the other set of stairs just as the sirens reached her ears. She'd head back to her hotel room and take a rousing bubble bath with lots of hot water, the phone just within reach for when Ric called. Yes, she loved this.

---------------

Ric kissed the top of his wife's head, holding her close. "Elizabeth, the medics are almost here. Hold on, sweetheart. Just hold on."

---------------


	3. Chapter Three

**The Fallout**

**Chapter Three**

The medics whisked Elizabeth into the emergency room, ordering more than asking "Mr. Lansing" to please stand back. Ric watched anxiously from outside the curtained room as they ascertained her condition. The ambulance ride had been a confusing blur of action and emotion. Anger, worry, fear, remorse—if only he'd arrived moments earlier, maybe he could have stopped Sonny—bounced back and fourth within him like wayward Ping-Pong balls. He watched the doctors check his wife's vital signs, set up an I.V. drip, hook her to a heart monitor. He caught clips of conversation as the physicians exchanged information and requests.

"—concussion—"

"—patient is pregnant—"

"—nurse, if you would page Dr. Meadows—"

Elizabeth looked so pale, so fragile, like a porcelain doll. Ric wished he could be with her, offering her words of encouragement, even if she couldn't hear. It seemed so impersonal, referring to her as merely "patient" when she was so much more. Couldn't they see how beautiful she was? That she was a vibrant person, not just a medical case?

Ric ground his teeth. No, they couldn't see. But at least they cared what became of her. Sonny knew her and he didn't care. She was a means to an end—the end being getting one over on Ric. Sonny hadn't felt a thing when he pushed her down those stairs. He'd probably laughed, walked away without a bit of remorse. He could hear his brother taunting him.

"You think you're the only one who can play this game, Ric?" Sonny asked him, putting a disgusted emphasis on his name._ "You think you're safe? That you're family's safe? That you have control of the situation? Well, think again. You're not. _I_ am the one in control." _Sonny began to laugh, and his laughter became more and more insane until_—_

Sonny asked him, putting a disgusted emphasis on his name.ISonny began to laugh, and his laughter became more and more insane until 

Ric jumped when something brushed against his arm.

"I'm sorry for startling you, Mr. Lansing," the nurse said. "You can see her now. She should be waking up soon."

"How is my wife?"

"Her condition is still being ascertained, but the doctors are confident that she will recover fully with rest. She appears to be suffering only from a mild concussion and a few abrasions and contusions. The doctors expect her to make a full recovery."

"And the baby?"

"It would appear all is well. There's no bleeding or bruising, but I'm on my way to page Dr. Meadows. She'll give her a checkup to make sure everything's all right. Go see her."

"I will. Thank you."

The crowd of physicians that had shrouded Elizabeth's bed from his view a moment ago had dwindled down to one. The man nodded to Ric. "Make sure she stays in bed. Dr. Meadows will be along shortly."

Ric murmured his thanks, taking Elizabeth's hand and stroking her soft brown hair. "Wake up, honey. Come on, wake up." Her eyelids fluttered. "That a girl."

Elizabeth brought a hand to her temple. "Ow. My head."

"I know. It's okay," Ric said soothingly, rubbing her fingers. She looked more beautiful than he'd ever seen her, despite—or perhaps because of—the scrapes and bruises covering her face.

Elizabeth took in her surroundings, her expression confused. "What am I—the baby!"

Ric shushed her. "The baby is fine. Dr. Meadows is going to come and give you an exam, but it's only a precaution. Now, I'd like to ask you a few things, but if you don't feel up to it, just let me know." He didn't want to press her. He needed every detail, and he didn't want to force her memory. If he did, she might miss an important fact.

Elizabeth nodded. "Go ahead."

"Can you remember what happened?"

"I—I asked Sonny to meet me at Rice Plaza. I wanted him to promise not to hurt you. I thought it would mean something to Sonny, because family matters so much to him. I'm so stupid."

"Never say that," Ric interrupted, raking a knuckle across her unmarked cheek. "Never, ever say that."

Elizabeth kept going. "I actually believed that he was a good person. That he'd care that you made me happy, but he didn't. I told him he wasn't God, that he didn't get to decide who lived or who died, but it meant nothing to him. He didn't care about me or the baby. I've never seen Sonny so mad. I mean, I've always known he had a temper, but he's never yelled at _me_ like that before."

"Go on."

Elizabeth sat up, swinging her fair legs off the bed.

Ric tried to guide her back into a reclined position. "The doctor said you shouldn't be getting up—"

"I've never been afraid of Sonny before, not even when he held that broken bottle to Jax's neck. But I remember—I was truly scared of him. I didn't think he'd hurt me, but…I started down the stairs. Someone pushed me." Elizabeth stood, using the bed as a crutch. She looked at Ric with big eyes. "I can't believe Sonny pushed me! If there had been anyone else there, anyone at all, I would have believed it had been one of them instead of Sonny. But there wasn't anyone else. It was just him and me and he was so _angry_ and—ow!"

Elizabeth clutched her belly, doubling over. Ric rushed around the bed, taking hold of her. "Something's wrong with the baby!" she wailed. She clutched his arm so tightly he could almost swear he'd have bruises, but if it helped her feel better, he didn't care.

"Doctor!" he shouted. "We need a doctor over here!"

Dr. Meadows rushed in, helping Elizabeth back into bed. "You need to leave," she said to Ric quite firmly.

"I can't lose my baby—" Elizabeth began.

"Your baby is fine," Dr. Meadows assured her. She pulled Ric aside.

"What's wrong with my wife, doctor?" he hissed.

"It's likely she's having a miscarriage. Please step outside."

Ric went, blinded by sorrow and rage. He slammed a fist into the wall and fought back tears. And it was all his bastard brother's fault.

--------------

Sonny stared out the window at the harbor. It was a nice view, almost a comforting one, until he thought about the glass he was gazing through. It was bulletproof. It'd be nice, not to live in a place where all the windows were bulletproof. But that was only a dream.

Slender arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Hey? You okay?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine."

"You've been staring at nothing since I went into the kitchen."

Sonny turned and gave her a quick hug. "I was just, you know, thinking."

Carly's smile held a hint of suspicion. "About…?"

"How thing's could have been different."

Carly frowned. "What do you mean?"

Just then, the phone ran, as it always seemed to do when he and Carly were discussing something important, or were trying to tell each other something. "I have to get that," Sonny told her, walking over the desk. She rolled her eyes. She knew. He gave her an appreciative smile as he picked up the phone and put it between his ear and shoulder. "Yeah?"

"You bastard!"

Sonny winced, almost dropping his glass of water. Ric continued shouting.

"How could you do that to her? How could you do that to anyone? What did she ever do to you? I will kill you. I swear, I will _kill_ you."

The animosity in Ric's voice was more powerful then it had been during the confrontation at Martha's Vineyard. This wasn't just resentment and hate, this was pure, undiluted, obviously misdirected, rage. A far different tune than the one he'd been tooting the night he married Elizabeth. So much for the truce, which Sonny had never believed in anyway. "What're you talking about?"

Ric continued on his seemingly pointless tirade. "Tell me, huh, Sonny? I wanna know!"

"Ric," Sonny said with much emphasis. "I don't know what you're talking about. And you know what? I don't really care." He started to lower the phone, but Ric's next words stopped him.

"What kind of _monster_ pushes a pregnant women down a flight of stairs?"

Sonny froze and gripped the desk with his free hand for support. The one holding his glass of water was shaking. His mouth went dry, and his mind emptied of any thoughts that had been tumbling around. He couldn't feel or think. Carly noticed the change that had come over him. He saw the worry that flashed in her eyes.

"Sonny? Sonny, what's wrong?" She took the glass from his hand and set it on the desk, where it was safe from his trembling fingers. "Sonny?"

Sonny barely comprehended what she was saying. He was hardly aware of what he himself was saying. It was like he wasn't in control of his own body anymore. "I'd never touch Elizabeth," he heard someone say very calmly. It was him. But he didn't believe the words that came out of his own mouth. He couldn't remember what happened. All he knew was how angry he had been, and how he'd yelled at her as he'd never yelled at her or in front of her before. He felt his throat constrict. He couldn't breathe. Was he capable of this if he was angry enough? What if he'd done it?

"Is that the story you're going with? Well, I don't believe a word that comes out of your lying mouth! You are going to pay for what you did to her and my child."

"I didn't—"

Sonny's objection was cut off by the dial tone.

---------------

Ric pressed the END button on his cell phone. Sonny Corinthos had everything—money, power, a wife and son who adored him, a baby on the way, a best friend who would do anything for him. But that wasn't enough for him. The only thing that made Sonny happy was control. Ric had had the opportunity to start over with the woman he loved and a child. Sonny had stolen that opportunity from him. Just like he'd stolen the opportunity for a good life from their mother. It was time for what Sonny sent around to come back and bite him. Ric wouldn't stop until Sonny was broken, alone, and begging him to kill him.

Maybe it'd been a mistake to warn Sonny ahead of time. But it'd only make revenge ever so much sweeter, Sonny knowing he was coming after him, so confident that he'd defeat Ric, and then losing.

He liked the idea of Sonny losing.

Ric punched in another number. He had one more call to make.

--------------

Carly hung up the phone for Sonny, who still looked stunned. This couldn't be good. "What did Ric want?" she demanded. "Something happened to Elizabeth, something he's probably responsible for himself, knowing how sick he is, and he's using it as an excuse to come after you, right? God, that man is a creep!"

"Rice Plaza—you ever been there?" Sonny asked, completely out of the blue.

She shook her head. "No."

"It's kind of like this platform, with stairs on either side leading up to it. It's not a real busy place. Elizabeth and I, we met on the platform. Now, she kept going on and on about Ric. What a good man he is, how he's given up his vendetta, that he had nothing to do with the car bomb, the drug setup. So then she asks me to promise that no matter what he does, I'll let him live. That's when I lost it. I remember yelling at her, you know? And that's it. The time between when I lost it and when I got back here, it's all a blur. I don't _remember_ what happened."

Carly didn't get it. So Sonny couldn't remember exactly what he'd said to the little twit. Big deal. "What does this have to do with the phone call?"

"Someone pushed Elizabeth down the stairs. I think she lost the baby."

"Oh no." That was horrible. Carly wouldn't wish the pain of losing a child on anyone, not even Elizabeth Webber—or was it Lansing now? "Does Ric know who did it?"

"Ric thinks it was me."

Carly didn't need Sonny to say what he said right next. She knew what he was thinking. She saw it written all over his face.

"And I think he might be right."

Uhn-uh. No way. Not happening. Hell would have to freeze over before she let Ric do this to her husband. "Okay, Sonny. You did not push Elizabeth. Just stop and think for a minute. You would never touch a woman. With the exception of Faith, but she doesn't count. And Elizabeth? You would never hurt her. You've gone out of your way to protect her. And never mind the fact that she was pregnant."

"You weren't there, Carly."

Carly reached up and stroked his hair. "I didn't have to be there. I know who are. You'd never lay a hand on a woman, Sonny."

He looked away. "I pushed my mother down the stairs at the cottage."

"You didn't push her! She fell!"

"If I hadn't been arguing with her, she wouldn't have fallen."

Carly stared at the ceiling. This was all Ric, playing with Sonny's head. That man was poison. Sonny had just come back to her, and now here Ric was trying to take him away from her again, trying to send him back into that unimaginably painful place deep inside himself where no one could reach him. "That's ridiculous—" she began, but the familiar thumping of Michael coming down the stairs stopped her.

"Can I go to the park yet?" Michael looked at them expectantly.

Carly held back a sigh. Michael hadn't a clue what a bad time it was for this. He was just making Sonny feel even more guilty, and he didn't need that right now. "No, honey."

"But I want to go!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but Daddy and I have explained this to you over and over again." _Please let it go, Michael. Just wait until tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow._

Michael didn't wait. "It's not fair! I hate you!"

Carly glanced at Sonny. For a moment, she hoped he'd been too deep in thought to tune into what was going on around him. "That's enough, Michael!" he shouted at half-volume, and she silently thanked him for that. Michael would be petrified if he yelled at full-force. "You don't talk to your mother like that. Ever. Go to your room!"

Michael hesitated.

"Now!"

"But I—" Michael tried once more to plead his case.

"Go!"

Carly turned back to Sonny as Michael stalked off, about to tell him he'd handled the situation well. That's when she heard the pottery shatter.

"Michael!" she shouted, and at the same time, Sonny yelled, "Hey!"

"Ow!" their son cried.

Carly ran over to inspect his hand. There was a shallow cut on his upper left arm. "My hand hurts," he told her.

"Let me see," Sonny said, his tone gentle. Carly would have liked to take a step back in admiration of what a good father he was, but not when her son was bleeding. Sonny inspected the wound. "It's not very deep. I'll go get the first aid kit."

"That's good," Carly said. "No stitches. Stitches hurt."

Sonny disappeared into the kitchen. Carly suspected he kept the first aid kit there in case she chopped a finger off trying to cut with one of his very sharp knives. He came back, and while Sonny cleaned the cut and prepared a Band-Aid, she let her curiosity get the better of her.

"Michael, why'd you do that?"

Sonny was sticking the Band-Aid over the cut. Michael looked at his arm.

"Daddy does it."

---------------

"Call me back. I need your help. It's about—it's about Sonny."

Ric had just terminated the phone call when Dr. Meadows called him back into the curtained room. Tears glistened in Elizabeth's eyes as she told him their baby was gone.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault," Ric assured her. He felt his heart constrict at the news. He'd wanted that child so badly. He wanted to hold it, read it bedtime stories, watch it grow from an infant to an independent person. Give it a happy home with two loving parents who loved each other, something he'd never had. That dream was shattered, in the blink of an eye.

"I should have fought harder for it—"

Ric shook his head. "You fought as hard as you could. I know because I saw you. You are so strong."

Elizabeth held onto him. "Ric?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"I don't know how we're going to get through this, but I can't just stand by while the man who killed our baby is out on the streets. I—I want to press charges against Sonny."

Ric almost smiled, but repressed the urge just in time. "Are you sure?"

Elizabeth nodded, wiping away her tears. "Yes. But I'm scared. What will he do to me if he finds out?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm a lawyer. I'll get a restraining order."

Elizabeth buried her face in his chest and cried for their baby. He kissed her hair. This was perfect. The PCPD wouldn't be able to make charges stick against Sonny—they never did—but maybe Sonny would think that this was how Ric intended to make him pay.

-------------


	4. Chapter Four

**The Fallout **

Chapter Four

Sonny turned away and sat on the stairs just behind Michael as Carly took the boy by his uninjured arm. It was too much to handle. The news of Elizabeth being pushed down a flight of stairs and losing her baby, and now this. He ran a hand through his hair, disturbing the usual slicked-back neatness of his black curls, and left it there, staring at the floor. He heard Carly trying to explain things to Michael, as if she could explain. The only explanation was the truth.

Your daddy is a bad example.

"Michael, I know that you get upset and frustrated, but there are better ways to handle it. You know better than this."

Sonny knew better. And he did it anyway. He did lots of things anyway. Was it that big a leap from breaking things to pushing a pregnant woman down a flight of stairs? Had he taken that step? After what he'd seek Deke do to his mother?

"Mommy—"

"You don't throw or break things when you get mad. Someone could get hurt."

Someone always got hurt. That's what came from being around Sonny. People got hurt. And it was always the people he loved who suffered the most. People like Lily. Caught up in the tangled web of a world they deserved no part in.

"Mommy?"

He could hear Carly's sigh as she gave up on the subject of Michael's behavior, at least for the time being. "What?"

"Something's wrong with Daddy."

---------------

Emily Quartermaine pushed through the swinging doors of General Hospital's emergency room, whipping her head left and right as she conducted a desperate visual survey for Zander. A doctor was seeing to a young girl whose arm was in a splint. Another examined a teenage boy with a head injury. Nurses and physicians huddled around raised stretchers. A man with curly black hair was standing near the nurses' station, talking into a cell phone.

There was no Zander.

Oh God, where was he? He had to be all right. He had to. He couldn't die on her. Not after all she'd done to protect him. It wouldn't be worth anything, pushing him away to protect him from watching the cancer slowly take over her, if he died. And she'd tried so _hard_ to keep him safe. It couldn't mean nothing. It couldn't _be_ for nothing.

Emily scanned the ER once more, and her eyes fell upon the waiting area, where a familiar blonde was leaning forward in a cushy chair, examining her clasped hands. Her brother crouched in front of her. Emily rushed over.

"Where's Zander?"

"Hey." Jason gave her a hug as he explained, "The doctors took him. We don't know anything yet. I'm sorry, okay?"

Emily nodded, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. Jason was sorry? What was he sorry about? That Zander had been shot? That she was upset? Or was there something he wasn't telling her?

"I'm gonna go call Sonny. Let him know what's going on. Courtney will keep you company, all right?"

Emily nodded again. Jason gave her hand a squeeze before walking off. There had to be something he wasn't telling her. Why else would he call Sonny? Zander didn't work for him anymore, so it didn't really concern Sonny that he'd been shot.

Courtney held out her arms. Emily willingly fell into her sisterly embrace. "What happened?" she asked, sinking into one of the surprisingly comfortable hospital chairs.

Courtney took her hand. "Well, Jason was taking me to my shift at Kelly's. We were out back in the alley when we heard a gunshot. We ran to see what had happened, and we found Zander lying there, on the ground. Jason gave me his phone, and I called 911. Then I called you."

"I got your message. But who _did_ this?

"You know Carly's club? The Cellar? Someone bribed the bouncers to let underage kids in and then bad ecstasy got handed out. One girl was hospitalized for an overdose. If she'd been drinking, she would have died. Jason asked Zander to find out who had sold it. There was this dealer, Angry John. Zander found out where John was getting the drugs from for Sonny. Then something happened and the gun went off. Zander said it was an accident."

Emily stood up and started pacing, wrapping her arms around herself. It wasn't fair. Sonny had tons of men working for him. Any one of them could have gotten the information he wanted. Why'd he have to go to Zander? Why couldn't he have gone to anyone else? "Why can't Sonny just leave Zander alone? Hasn't he done enough for him already? Or can you never pay off a debt to Sonny Corinthos?" she blurted.

Courtney lowered her eyes.

---------------

Sonny shook himself free of his dark thoughts for Michael's sake. "No, I'm okay. Nothing's wrong," he said, sending Carly a quick smile that was supposed to be reassuring. He wasn't okay or anywhere near being okay. He knew it, and Carly knew it, but Michael didn't need to. They'd talk later, when Michael was upstairs, safely out of hearing range.

Sonny shifted to kneel in front of a standing Michael. "What you just did was wrong, and like Mommy said, you know better."

Michael made a confused face. "If it's wrong, why do you do it?"

"Why do I do it?" Sonny blew out a breath of air. Michael would ask a question like that, a hard question, a question he didn't know how to answer. He had to be honest. He wasn't going to lie to his son like Mike had done to him for all those years. "Well, first you need to know that just because I do it, doesn't make it okay. It's not. It's just sometimes I don't…I don't _think_ before I do things, you know what I'm saying? I get mad, and I break things. I know I shouldn't, because it doesn't change anything. But it's hard for me to stop and think about it, because I've been doing it for so long, it's become a habit. And I don't want that for you. I want better for you. Do you understand?"

Michael didn't look like he understood. "I guess. Are you mad?"

"No. It's just—your mommy and I, we'll love you no matter what, but you haven't been behaving very well lately."

"I'm sorry."

Carly tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear. "It's okay, sweetie. Look, we know this is hard, but you just have to hang in there a little while longer, all right? It'll be over soon." She gave him a hug. "Now go on upstairs to bed and Daddy and I will come tuck you in."

"Okay." Michael started up the stairs.

"Hey, what about me? Don't I get a hug? Or are you too old to hug your daddy now?"

Michael made an embarrassed face and came back down.

"That's better," Sonny said. "Mommy and I will be up in a bit, all right?"

"Okay." Michael dashed back up the stairs.

"And don't forget to brush your teeth!" Sonny called.

"I won't!"

Carly smiled until they heard Michael's door close and then she turned to Sonny. "I know you had to tell Michael that you were fine, but don't even _try_ lying to me."

He avoided her gaze. She knew him too well. "I should be setting a better example for Michael, you know?"

"Sonny, you are an excellent father. Don't second guess yourself."

Sonny shrugged, and Carly opened her mouth to speak, but the phone rang.

"I—"

"You have to get it. I know." Carly put a hand on her stomach and rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "Believe me, _I know_."

"You're a very patient woman, you know that?" Sonny flashed her a devilish grin. Carly looked around in a way that suggested she was searching for something to throw at him. Sonny held up a finger as he picked up the phone. "Oh, come on, now. You know better than that."

Carly settled for sticking her tongue out at him.

Trying not to laugh, Sonny spoke into the phone. "Yeah?"

"The drugs are from Miami."

"Jason. Where are you?"

"I'm at General Hospital with Courtney. Zander told me about Miami. I think he may know more, but I didn't really have time to ask him, because he's been shot. I didn't tell Emily, because I didn't want to upset her, but it—it doesn't look good."

Sonny blew out a breath. "All right. I'll be right there." He lowered the phone.

"What now?" Carly asked.

"Zander's been shot. He has some information about the drugs at your club. I'm gonna go see if I can ask him a few questions. I'll be back."

"What about Michael?"

"Tell him I'll stop in to say goodnight when I get home, all right?"

Carly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't be long."

"I'm just, you know, gonna ask Zander a few questions, and then I'll be back. That's all. I'll be fine."

Carly turned up the sides of her mouth in a skeptical kind of smile. "Yeah."

"I love you, you know that?"

Carly nodded. He closed the door.

---------------

Unsure of what to say, Courtney let an uncomfortable silence linger between she and Emily. She could understand Emily's anger, her need to blame someone for what had happened, and she was partly right—Sonny didn't let things go easily. But it was usually for good reason—take AJ for instance, or that scumbag Ric. And he was fair. She didn't think Sonny would call Zander in on the same debt over and over again.

Suddenly, Emily groaned. "I'm sorry, Courtney. I forgot Sonny's your brother."

"It's okay. It's not like there's a strong family resemblance or anything." One side of Emily's mouth rose a little in appreciation of that statement. "Look," Courtney continued, "I haven't known Sonny all that long and I don't understand even _half_ of the things he does. But I know he didn't mean for Zander to get hurt."

"I know." Emily sighed. "It's just…it's easier to blame it on Sonny."

Courtney watched Emily pace nervously for awhile. She couldn't stand it. She had to say something to keep Emily's mind off of Zander's current condition. "You know, when I first came to town, Zander was the first person I met."

Emily sat down again, her expression intrigued. "He was?"

"My mom was here. She'd been in Port Charles because she said she'd stumbled across some money. She was actually blackmailing your grandfather, believe it or not, but we don't need to get into that."

"Nooooo," Emily agreed. "But I can't say Grandfather didn't deserve it."

Courtney laughed. Truer words had never been spoken. "Anyway, my car broke down, and Zander was walking by. He offered to help. I gave him a hard time. But when I told him I was looking for my mom, he took me to someone he thought could help me anyway. That someone turned out to be Sonny, the half-brother I never knew. It's weird, but if you think about it, if it weren't for Zander, I might've never known I had any other family."

"So you and Zander are friends?" Emily inquired with raised eyebrows.

Courtney thought about that for a minute. "I guess you could say that. We don't really see each other that often."

"That must have been _so_ weird, finding out you had an older brother, and that that older brother was Sonny _Corinthos_."

"You have _no_ idea. But it's worked out okay. Sonny and I—we've always had our differences." Courtney snorted inwardly at the understatement, thinking back on all the shouting matches she and Sonny had had, all the times she'd said she hated him, all the times he'd called her a naive little girl. "Sonny…"—she strained to find the right way to put it—"doesn't exactly make himself easy to like. I mean, he's overprotective, and controlling, he thinks he can run your life…ugh. You get the idea." Courtney didn't need to tell Emily about how it had taken Sonny's "death" to make her realize that, however wrong he was going about it, Sonny was just trying to protect her and really did wish her the best. "It's just—he really does have a good heart, you know?"

Emily started to speak, but an all too familiar voice that dripped with condescension cut her off.

"Well, well, well, looks who's here, defending dear big brother to all the world." Ric Lansing looked down his nose at the two young women. "Tell me, Courtney, how much do you _really_ know about Sonny?"

Courtney turned her eyes skyward.

---------------

Sonny found Jason in a corridor not far from the emergency room. He passed Courtney and Emily on the way, but they were deep in conversation, and he didn't think he should interrupt. He could offer no words of comfort that would make Emily feel better. Maybe Courtney could.

"Hey," he greeted his best friend, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," Jason replied with a nod of greeting.

"How's Zander?"

"They've taken him in for surgery. Monica tells me there's a lot of internal bleeding. Like I said, it doesn't look good."

Sonny stared down at his shoes. After a moment had passed, he glanced up. "What'd he tell you?"

"Not much we didn't already know," Jason said in a low voice. "The drugs are from Miami. Apparently, the dealer, Angry John, is terrified of the guy he's getting them from."

"Anything else?"

Jason shook his head. "Nothing, except Zander mentioned John was afraid of you."

"If he's so scared of me," Sonny said in the same quiet tone, "why did he shoot Zander? What? That supposed to improve things for him?"

"Zander said it was an accident. I don't know. Courtney and I heard the gunshot and found him. I'm sure there's more, but…" Jason trailed off, shaking head.

"But we may never hear it from Zander," Sonny finished the dismal thought. He didn't care for the kid—he had a big mouth and a bad attitude—but Emily loved him. He didn't want to see her hurt, and he didn't want Zander dead. He'd been useful, despite all his stupid mistakes. "We need to look into things in Miami, see if anyone's been testing the waters down there, you know what I'm saying?"

Jason nodded. "I'll give Roy Dilucca a call, see if he's noticed anything."

"All right. I'm gonna go talk to Emily. You know, see how she's doing. I think—it looked like she was doing okay. I think talking to Courtney's making her feel a little better."

Jason smiled slightly as he took out his cell phone to make the call. "Courtney's good at that."

"She is," Sonny agreed, wandering away. He doubted that Courtney could make him feel any better.

Someone bumped into him.

"I'm _so_ sorry. I should have been watching where I was—" a nurse began as papers went flying.

"No, it's fine, no problem," Sonny said, stooping to help her gather them. "Here, let me help you."

"Thank you, sir. " the nurse said, meeting his eyes. She almost dropped the papers all over again as recognition dawned on her. "Oh—you're—"

"Yeah," Sonny agreed uncomfortably. He was used to reactions like this. He had to give her credit for not screaming.

The nurse couldn't get away fast enough, throwing an excuse over her shoulder. "Well, I really should be going."

Sonny turned from her hastily retreating back and started to move toward the waiting area of the ER, but he caught sight of a familiar figured huddled, looking like a small and frightened child, in a hospital bed. Sonny adjusted his course, moving toward the curtained room.

Elizabeth Webber was asleep, her head resting upon the arm that was tucked behind her head. Her hair was disheveled; scrapes and bruises discolored her porcelain skin. Sonny wanted to look away, but he didn't. She reminded him so much of his mother, when Deke had put her in the hospital. There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach at the thought that he could very well have done this to Elizabeth.

But maybe…maybe Ric had jumped to conclusions. Maybe Elizabeth hadn't spoken to him about her fall. Maybe she remembered something he couldn't. She could clear this all up. He had to know. He couldn't stand not being able to remember.

Sonny walked over to her bedside and looked down at her. Close up, he could see the dark streaks down her cheeks where her makeup had run. Swallowing hard, he reached out and gently brushed her arm. "Elizabeth," he said very quietly.

The young woman flinched at his touch, sitting bolt upright in bed.

--------------

Emily squinted up at the man standing before them, taking in his black curls and deep tan. She'd seen him somewhere before…where was it? Oh, yes, this was Ric Lansing, the man Elizabeth with madly in love with. She stood up and stuck out a hand, choosing to overlook the apparent animosity between him and Courtney that had been revealed in Ric's tone and her future sister-in-law's exasperated sigh. Elizabeth didn't like Courtney either, but that didn't mean Emily had to choose sides. "Hi. You must be Ric Lansing. I'm Emily Quartermaine, Elizabeth's friend." Emily said perkily, standing and sticking her hand out.

Ric shook it. "Nice to meet you, Miss Quartermaine."

"She's Jason's sister. And, speaking of Jason, he's right around the corner."

"Threatening me with your mobster boyfriend again, Courtney? I really don't think that's a good idea." Ric released Emily's hand and gave her a charming smile. "I'm terribly sorry. Jason and I have had our disagreements. They do not reflect upon you."

"Quit the phony polite act, Ric," Courtney spat.

Ric gave Emily an expression that told her how he thought Courtney's behavior quite sad. "I'm merely curious, Courtney. What _do _you think Sonny was doing tonight?"

Courtney glared at him. "He certainly wasn't blackmailing anyone's sister into marrying him or convincing a woman that he raped her."

Ric gave a laugh that sounded hollow and fake. "Very funny. Now guess again."

---------------

"Sonny? What are you—"

Sonny held out both his hands in a calming gesture. Elizabeth was practically shrieking. "Whoa, Elizabeth, just—calm down."

"I want you out! Get—"

Sonny took a couple steps back. "Elizabeth, will you—stop it, please, just—I want to talk to you."

"What's there to talk about? You pushed me down a flight of stairs! You made me lose my baby!"

She could nearly be categorized as hysterical, with her mixture of tears and screams. Could he trust what she said in this emotional state? "Elizabeth—please—just listen to me for a secon—"

Elizabeth grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. When that missed, she grabbed the clipboard lying on top of the machine next to her. He had to duck to avoid being decapitated by the violently flung object. "Get out!" she screeched. "Get _out_!" She grabbed something else he couldn't see, he was moving so fast to the curtained door.

"I'm going—you don't have to throw that—I'm leav—"

"Not so fast, Corinthos."

--------------

Courtney ran a hand through her hair, very much annoyed. "I don't know where my brother was, Ric, and guess what? I don't care."

--------------

"Get him away from me!" Elizabeth screeched.

Sonny looked from Elizabeth to Scotty Baldwin, district attorney, and the police officers that trailed him. What the hell was Scotty Baldwin doing here? "I'm leaving," he repeated.

Scotty stepped forward, using wide hand gestures that represented his ego quite nicely as he spoke. "I don't think so. You see, you are in violation of a restraining order." Scotty smirked and opened his eyes wide when he said this.

"What restraining order?"

"Oh, come on. Capelli hand-delivered it to you about—" Scotty checked his watch, "—a half-hour ago."

What?

"Did you not read the part about not being permitted within five hundred feet of Ms. Webber?"

"I never got—"

Scotty talked over him. "No, of course not. Lucky we were here to arrest Zander Smith for the murder of John the Dealer. Now we got two birds with one stone. Cuff him."

One officer stepped forward and locked Sonny's hands behind his back. Angry John was dead? And they were going to arrest somebody who was fighting for his life in the operating room for his murder? And what was this bull about the restraining order? Nobody had presented him with a restraining order. "What the—"

"Do you have the warrant?" Elizabeth asked, glaring at Sonny with tear-filled eyes.

"What warrant?" Sonny asked.

Scotty searched his pockets and came up with it. "Lucky I knew just the judge that would be up so late. Read him his rights."

"You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Elizabeth Webber-Lansing—"

Attempted _murder?_ How had the gone from violation of a restraining order he hadn't even known existed to _murder_?

Ric, he realized suddenly. Ric was a lawyer.

"—and the violation of a restraining order. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"

-------------

"You should care, Courtney. Very deeply," Ric said in that condescending tone she couldn't stand. God, even when he was calling her a silly little girl, Sonny didn't speak to her like she was a two-year-old.

"You need to get over your obsession with Sonny. It's really quite pathetic," Courtney said. She turned away, and then that's when she saw them. Three officers and that slippery jerk Scotty Baldwin taking Sonny out of the Emergency Room in handcuffs.

Scotty made a detour when he spotted Ric.

"Sonny?" Courtney hissed. "What—what's going on?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry."

"What's going on?" Courtney pressed.

"Everything's fine," he insisted.

"Sonny seems to be in denial," Ric addressed Courtney. "You see, while you and Carly were sharing your thoughts on life and love, Sonny was pushing Elizabeth down a flight of stairs at Rice Plaza."

Courtney actually laughed. "Oh, come on. That is _beyond_ ridiculous."

"Let it go, Courtney," Sonny said quietly.

"Sonny, you can't let Ric get away with this."

"Just don't—forget it. It's not going to help, you getting involved."

Anger flared up in Courtney. Her brother could be so dense sometimes. "What do you mean it's not going to help? I bet there isn't even any proof, like when he—" she meant Scotty, "—arrested Jason and Brenda for murdering Alcazar!"

"We have the testimony of an eyewitness," Scotty said smugly.

"Who?" Courtney demanded, drumming her fingers on her arm impatiently.

"Elizabeth Webber-Lansing. She had a miscarriage, you know. Wonder what the jury will think of _that_."

Courtney felt the back of her eyes burning with rage and tears. How could Elizabeth do this? The loss of her baby was no excuse. She knew Sonny could never have pushed her. "You're going to take the word of a kidnapping blackmailer's wife? Come on. Ric probably threw her down the stairs himself!"

"Courtney, that's enough," Sonny said.

She turned on him. "No, it is _not_ enough! I'm not going to stand by while these blundering idiots railroad you for something you couldn't possibly have done!"

When Sonny looked at her, there was something in his eyes that made her breath catch in her chest, her heart skip a beat, and her legs feel weak. Before she could say anything more, the cops pulled him away. What had she seen in Sonny's eyes? Was it…? Could it have been…?

Guilt?

-------------


	5. Chapter Five

**The Fallout **

Chapter Five

Frowning, Jason slipped his cell phone back into his pocket. Roy Dilucca hadn't been able to provide any enlightening information. Apparently, someone had been going around asking questions about Sonny, but he had no idea whom, as that person had not come directly to him, and nothing else out of the ordinary had happened. Business as usual.

Rubbing his forehead thoughtfully, he headed back to the emergency room. Sonny would want to know the details, however sparse they were.

He found Courtney seated alone in the waiting area, head in her hands, platinum locks cascading over her fingers. He smiled at the sight of her, a perfect, living, breathing picture…until he noticed that there was something wrong with that picture's surroundings. Two things were missing. Two people.

The frown returning, he walked over and lightly touched her shoulder. She raised her face from her palms and looked up at him, her sapphire eyes, windows to her soul, swimming with tears. The question he was about to ask died on his lips.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He took the chair next to her.

"God," Courtney said, melting into his arms.

Jason held her, rubbing her back soothingly. "Hey, it's okay. Courtney, what—what's the matter? Is it Zander?"

She shook her head against his chest. "No…no. I haven't heard anything about Zander."

"Then what's wrong? Where'd Sonny and Emily go?"

Courtney pulled away, flicking away her tears with her thumb in that way she had that kept her eye makeup from being smeared. He loved it when she did that. "She went to see Elizabeth after Ric told us what happened to her. They're friends—Elizabeth and Emily—right?"

Jason nodded distractedly. "Yeah. Yeah, they are."

Courtney, seeming to read his mind, answered him before he even asked. "Someone pushed her down a flight of stairs tonight. She lost her baby." Courtney rolled her eyes. "At least that's what Ric says. She could have just slipped. They're married now, did you know?"

Jason shook his head. He hadn't known. But he really didn't care. What Elizabeth did with her life had nothing to do with him anymore. If she was happy—and Ric must make her that way in order for her to marry him—that was good. If she wasn't, it wasn't his business. "Well, that's too bad, but I don't understand why you're so upset about it. You don't even like Elizabeth, or Ric."

"You're right; I don't. But I'd never wish that on anyone. Even Ric, however sick he is. The reason I'm upset is Sonny."

Now that didn't make sense, unless Sonny had changed his mind about them getting married, which was highly unlikely. Sonny had said he was happy for them, happy that they'd held out, happy they hadn't giving up even for him, and he'd meant it. "What? Did he say something? Did you get in a fight?"

"No, nothing like that. Ric—he had the PCPD arrest Sonny, for attempted murder. Elizabeth gave a statement. She said Sonny pushed her. I know, Elizabeth is upset and angry and needs someone to blame. She probably wasn't paying attention to where she was walking because she was upset about something Sonny said and missed a step. She probably made it up. I _know_ that Sonny would never do this. But I can't shake this feeling—" Courtney sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

"What? Courtney, you can tell me. You can tell me anything."

"I just—I thought—when Sonny looked at me…when he looked at me—he looked at me as if he was _guilty_."

---------------

"Are you all right?" Ric asked, rushing to his wife's bedside. "Scotty just told me Sonny was here. Did he hurt you?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, no, no. Ric, calm down. He didn't get anywhere near me."

"Did he say anything to you? Did he threaten you?"

"Ric, no," Elizabeth continued to reassure him, her voice very gentle. "I don't even know what he wanted. I didn't give him a chance."

"He was here to threaten you, to make sure you'd be silent." Ric could see it now, what a mistake it had been, calling Sonny. He'd let him know that Elizabeth remembered what he had done to her. That she'd told Ric. He should have realized the restraining order wouldn't do any good. Damn good thing they'd brought in the PCPD for the attempted murder charge.

"Well, it's not going to work. I am not backing down. Sonny is going to pay for what he did to our baby."

"Okay, but I'm going to talk to Baldwin, get a guard for your room."

"No, Ric—"

"Elizabeth," Ric interjected, putting a finger over her lips. "Elizabeth, just listen to me. I need to know your safe from Sonny and Jason. A guard can keep you that way. So, please, if no other reason than for me. My peace of mind."

She sighed and smiled. "Okay."

"Okay?" Ric removed his finger and kissed her. "All right. I'm going to go down to the police station and see to it the charges get filed properly. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't be long," Elizabeth replied, turning onto her to rest her head on her arms as he left.

Ric passed the girl that had been sitting with Courtney on his way out. He grabbed her arm. "Did Courtney send you?"

"No. I told you, Elizabeth's a friend of mine. I want to see her."

Ric sighed and let her go. "All right, but _do not_ say anything to upset her. She needs her rest."

"Okay," Emily agreed with a nod, expression most sincere. He reluctantly watched Jason's sister enter his wife's curtained chamber.

--------------

"Sonny didn't do it."

"How can you be so sure?" Courtney asked, forcing the words out. She didn't want to believe her brother was capable of something so horrible. "You weren't there the night the power went out. He almost shot Carly, thinking she was Faith."

"But he didn't. Look, Sonny would never touch a woman. He did _not_ push Elizabeth."

Jason sounded so sure, and she wanted to believe him, she wanted to believe in Sonny, but she wasn't quite convinced. "Then why did he try to keep me quiet when I said there was no way he possibly could have done it? Why didn't he say anything in his own defense?"

Her fiancé blew out a breath. "Well, it's safer that way, you know? Baldwin will twist everything he says—and everything you say—so it fits his description of what happened. He'll do anything, cut any deal, to send Sonny to prison."

Courtney groaned. What had she been thinking? Of _course_ Baldwin would twist everything she said and use it against her brother. Why hadn't she remembered that part? _Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law_. "God, I should have just stayed quiet."

"No, it's good—it's good for Sonny to know you've got his back."

Courtney offered a feeble smile. "So are you going to go down to the police station? I think Sonny needs you there."

Jason looked out at the emergency room. "I don't want to leave Emily."

"I'll stay with her."

Jason cupped her cheek in his hand. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Courtney said. "Yeah, of course."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Courtney let his fingers slip away from hers and watched him walk toward the door. On sudden impulse she leapt up. "Jason!"

He turned back to her.

"Tell Sonny…" she paused, the words sticking in the back of her throat. _Tell Sonny I love him_. How hard was it to say? But she couldn't. "Tell Sonny I hope everything works out."

Jason nodded and left.

Courtney dropped into the chair again, raking her fingers through her hair.

---------------

"Oh, Elizabeth, I'm _so_ sorry." Emily gave her best friend a big hug.

"Emily…what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked, eyes searching Emily's. "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything."

"I was with Courtney when Scotty came over. He and Ric told us _everything_."

Elizabeth looked hurt and betrayed. "You were with Courtney?"

How Emily wished that Elizabeth didn't hate Courtney so much. She couldn't choose between the two of them—Elizabeth was her best friend, but Courtney was going to be her sister-in-law and she made her brother happier than he'd ever been. And she loved Jason more than anything. "Zander's been shot. Courtney and Jason found him, and she called me. We were waiting for news."

"Oh my god. Zander's been _shot_? How? It's not like he works for Sonny anymore, and he's not dealing."

Emily waved a hand, not wanting to think about Zander. It'd be awhile before they'd get any information, and the best way to keep from panicking was not to think about all the worst-case scenarios that could unfold. "Zander was doing Jason a favor. I guess it was an accident—that's what Zander told Courtney—but I'm not sure. Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is you. What happened, Elizabeth? I mean, Ric and Scotty told us the general idea, but I want to hear it from you."

"Ric and I got married last night. Ric is Sonny's brother, and they hate each other. Sonny thinks Ric is responsible for every single problem in the world, and I can understand why. But Ric has _changed_. He's done with his vendetta against Sonny. At least he was. Then Faith—you know, the woman we ran into outside of Kelly's?—called me and told me Sonny was going to kill Ric."

Emily put a hand to her mouth. "Oh no."

"So I met him and tried to convince him that the things he thought Ric had done he didn't do. I _begged_ him not to hurt Ric, but he wouldn't listen. He got so _angry_. I have never seen him so mad. I was _scared_. I started down the stairs and someone pushed me. Then I woke up here. Now my baby is gone."

"That's awful," Emily said, tears prickling her eyes. "But Elizabeth…are you sure…are you sure it was Sonny?"

Elizabeth stared at her. "What?"

"Are you sure it was Sonny? It's just, he's always been so nice to me and to you. I know, I've been gone for a _long_ time. Things have changed. But I just can't picture him doing something like…" Seeing the expression on Elizabeth's face, Emily trailed off, "…this."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "You think I'm lying!"

"No, Elizabeth, I don't. I just need to know—"

"You think I'm lying! You don't believe me! He killed my _baby_ and you don't believe me! Get out!"

"Elizabeth, no—"

"I can't believe I ever thought you were my friend! Now get out! _Now!_"

Her eyes overflowing, Emily ran from the room.

---------------

Carly flipped through a bridal magazine, pausing on occasion to examine a dress. "Well, _that's_ hideous." She stuck her tongue out at a frumpy thing with a dropped waist and sleeves. She continued onward, coming across a predictably white dress with puffed sleeves and a skirt that stuck out in firm creases. "Looks like a shower curtain." She shuddered, just picturing Courtney walking down the aisle in such a disgusting gown. She continued on, passing an overdone gown with a ton of extra material around the neck and an extraordinarily plain ankle-length gown made of satin. No beads, no decoration, straight from shoulder to hem. Eck.

Then she saw the _perfect_ gown for Courtney. It was white and strapless, with ivory and white beads embroidered into the formfitting bodice and a full white skirt. "Ooo," she breathed, running a finger over the photo. It was _beautiful_. She tore the page out and put it on the coffee table to show Sonny when he got home. He was doing his best to avoid talking about the wedding with her, cutting her off whenever she started, because he knew she'd never stop if he let her get started. But she wanted his input on Courtney's dress. And Courtney's, too, of course, but she had no doubt Courtney would approve.

She sat back with a growing smile. This wedding was going to be perfect for her two best friends.

The sound of Michael jumping down the stairs two at a time made her turn around.

"Where's Daddy?"

---------------

Sonny jerked at the cuff that secured him to the metal interrogation room chair. It didn't accomplish anything, but he had to do _something_ while he was sitting here waiting for Baldwin to process whatever paperwork he was filing in the main room. If he just sat still and waited, he'd start thinking, and he didn't want to think. He was tired of thinking. It was all he'd done since he found out what happened to Elizabeth and it wasn't helping. He couldn't remember, no matter how hard he thought, no matter how many times he went over their conversation in his mind.

He pulled at the cuff again.

---------------

"I'm going to slap him with an attempted murder charge and make it stick," Scotty said loudly, turning his devious smirk from the one-way mirror of the interrogation room to Lieutenant Marcus Taggert.

Taggert sighed. How many times had he and Baldwin been over this during the Alcazar murder case? Every time Baldwin had a new—and innocent—suspect arrested, he kept trying to drill it into his head—the lack of evidence, how unlikely the situation was. He'd said it before, and he'd say it again: "Look, no one wants to see Corinthos in lockup more than I do, but not for something he didn't do."

Scotty widened his eyes. "How do you _know_ he didn't do it?"

"Sonny knew Elizabeth was pregnant. Corinthos is guilty of countless crimes, but he doesn't push pregnant woman down stairs."

"Prove it." Scotty didn't even wait for Taggert to speak before forging onward. "You can't prove it! We have Elizabeth's statement, Taggert. She met Sonny at the Plaza to ask him not to kill Ric. She said she called him on a promise he made—he'd said he owed her. He loses his temper. She turns her back on him. Next thing she knows, she's being shoved from behind. There was no one else at the Plaza. See? We have a statement. He has nothing."

"Elizabeth is a distraught witness with a head injury," Taggert said through gritted teeth, biting off his words in an attempt to get it through Baldwin's thick skull. "She'd just gotten released from the hospital after a fall that resulted in another head injury. Sonny's attorney will use that to get the charges thrown out."

Scotty looked around. "What attorney? Alexis Davis's license is suspended, and Ric…need I say anything about Ric?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Ric Lansing asked, coming over right on cue.

Taggert glared at him. "The problem is there is not enough evidence to prosecute this case."

"That's _my _call," Scotty interrupted. "We are going to prosecute. Now, Taggert, you're either going to _shut up_ or I'll see to it that you get placed on traffic detail!"

With one last dirty look, Taggert stalked over to his desk.

---------------

Carly reached out and gave her six-year-old a big bear hug. "Hey, Mr. Man! Daddy had to go out on business, but he's going to be back real soon, and he'll come to say goodnight as soon as he does." She picked up the magazine page she'd torn out and showed it to him. "This is going to be Aunt Courtney's dress. What do you think? Isn't it gorgeous?"

Michael stared at the picture. "It's…white," he offered unhelpfully.

"Of course it's white," Carly said with a laugh. "Wedding dresses are _always_ white. It's a tradition."

"When you married Daddy did you wear a white dress?"

Carly giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," she said. "Yes, my wedding gown was white." It was two-thirds the truth, because two out of the three times she'd married Sonny, she _had_ worn a white dress. But the first time, it had been pale green with big pink flowers.

Just then, the phone rang, waking her from her wedding day memories. "I'll be right back," she told Michael, crossing the living room to the desk. "Hello?"

Jason's voice came through the receiver with static. "You need to come down to the police station."

Carly frowned. "I can't. Leticia has the night off. I have to stay with Michael. Why? What happened?"

"Ric's had Sonny arrested. I'm having trouble reaching a laywer. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get him out tonight."

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God. But, Jason, he can't—you need to get him out. You need to—"

"Carly! Carly, calm down. I'm going to do everything I can. Don't freak out, okay? You need to stay with Michael. Sonny can handle this, as long as you don't go and do anything crazy. So you need to hold it together. All right? Can you do that?"

Carly swallowed. "I can do that." But it was going to be hard.

"Okay. I'll call you later, all right? Bye."

"Bye." Carly lowered the phone and slowly walked back to the couch.

"What's wrong, Mommy?"

"I'm so sorry, honey. It doesn't look like Daddy's going to make it home tonight after all."

---------------

"Hey, are you all right?"

Emily wiped her face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're crying."

"Courtney, I'm fine," Emily repeated. "Where's Jason? Is there any news on Zander?"

Courtney shook her head. "No, I haven't heard anything yet. Jason went down to the police station. He was going to stay, but I told him he should go, and that I would."

Emily nodded. She knew Jason wanted to stay with her, but he couldn't be two places at once.

"I don't know if it's worth anything to you, but Jason promised me that Sonny didn't push Elizabeth," Courtney said. "I know Elizabeth's your friend," she added hastily, "and you have no reason to take my word or Jason's over hers, but I just…I needed to tell you that."

"I understand. There has to be another explanation," Emily agreed. She hated herself for not being able to believe Elizabeth. But she'd known Sonny for so long, and Jason wouldn't lie. If he said Sonny didn't do it, then Sonny didn't do it. But she couldn't understand why Elizabeth would lie…

Just then, her mother appeared. "Emily?"

Emily leapt into her arms. "Oh, Mom, it's so good to see you. How's Zander?"

Monica Quartermane didn't answer right away. Emily stepped back and saw the tears in her eyes. "Mom. Oh, Mom, what's wrong? It can't be. He can't be."

---------------

Faith whisked her glass of red wine off the chair she'd placed next to her bubble bath and took a sip, relishing the tingling sensation as it flowed over her tongue and to her insides. She turned the glass around in her fingers, smirking at the liquid. Red. The color of blood. The color of revenge. She giggled and took another sip, glancing at the phone, also within reach upon the chair, as she did so.

The smile disappeared.

Ric hadn't called. He should have called by now.

"Patience," she said to herself, "is a virtue." And virtues weren't her strong suit. "Ric probably needs time to process it. He'll call me."

She settled back into the bubbles, scooping some up in her free hand and blowing them across the tub.

Child's play.

The phone rang. Faith snatched it up. "Faith Roscoe speaking," she said, biting her lip in anticipation. Her expression turned to a scowl as she heard what the caller asked. It wasn't Ric. It was a wrong number. She ripped the jack out of the wall and hurled the telephone across the room. It shattered against the wall.

---------------

A man looked out the window of the plane, waiting for take off. He glanced at his cell phone, thinking about the second, more detailed message that had been left. He was sorry he had missed the calls. He turned the cell phone on. Tapped in the number.

"This is Ric Lansing. Please leave a message."

"I got your messages. I'm on my way to Port Charles. Sonny has taken enough from both of us. It's time for him to pay."

He pressed the END button and touched the antenna to his upper lip. He should have done this long ago. He shouldn't have left it up to Ric.

"Flight 107 for Port Charles is preparing for takeoff. We will be landing in Port Charles within the hour," came the announcer's voice over the speakers.

It was too late to rethink the decisions of the past. All that was left was the present, from which the future could be shaped. A future that had not place for the psychopath Sonny Corinthos.

---------------


	6. Chapter Six

**The Fallout **

Chapter Six

"No, no, Emily, it's not that. Please, sit down." Emily's mother guided her to a chair.

"But if he's not…if he's not dead, that means he made it through surgery, and he's alive, and he's going to live, right?" Emily desperately searched her mother's face for answers, for hope, feeling anything but reassured. Something was wrong. She could read it in her mom's expression. "Right, Mom?"

Monica sighed. "Oh, Em, I don't know how to tell you this."

"Tell me what, Mom?" The panic that speaking with Courtney had held at bay was rising rapidly to the surface. She forgot completely about her fight with Elizabeth as her voice rose and involuntary octave. "Just say it!"

"Zander…" her mom trailed off. "Well, Zander made it through surgery. With flying colors I might add."

"That's great!" Courtney sounded so relieved and excited. Couldn't she tell that there was more that Monica had yet to tell them? Couldn't she tell that something was totally, completely, drastically wrong? Emily looked around her. Everything seemed so surreal. A child was giggling as a nurse tickled him. The nurses at the desk were exchanging gossip. The world was still turning. But to Emily, it seemed as if everything was in slow motion. It was like that feeling of suspension before the car crashed.

"Yes, that's…that's a good sign. But there's more. The surgery Zander just had—it was to stop the internal bleeding, which there was a _lot_ of. The good news is it worked. We got most of the bullet out. The bad news is that the bullet fragmented. Do you know what that means?" Monica's eyes were pools of sympathy, sincerity, and concern.

Emily nodded, hardly aware that she was doing it. "It means that it broke into pieces, right?"

Monica nodded. "Right. The thing is, a post-op x-ray shows that the slivers are lodged in the soft tissue that supports the spinal cord and vertebrae, which leaves us with a couple problems. If we don't remove the fragments, there's a possibility they could rupture the vessels that lead to the nerves and the spinal cord. That could cause more internal bleeding and possibly permanent neurological damage."

There was no question about what needed to be done, then. "You have to remove them! You have to. There's no choice. It has to be done."

"The thing is, to reach the fragments, it's going to take very delicate microscopic surgery, and the place where the fragments are isn't easy to reach." Emily's mother paused, as if to gather her thoughts.

"So it could be dangerous, is that what you're saying? The surgery could kill him but not having it could, too?" Courtney expressed Emily's darkest fears.

"Every surgery comes with its risks, but the surgeons at General Hospital are some of the very best. I'm more concerned about the…the high likelihood that Zander's spinal cord will be compromised."

"He could be paralyzed," Emily whispered, realizing what her mother was trying to say. She'd never be able to dance with Zander again, and oh, how she loved to dance with him. Those times in the barn, and under the streetlight on prom night were some of her most precious memories. They'd never dance together, never run, or walk holding hands, or swim.

But Zander would be alive. He'd still be able to talk to her, to laugh with her. She'd still hear his voice every day and see his smile. There was no choice. She needed Zander in her life. She needed his voice, his smile. More than anything. And she knew, having been temporarily paralyzed herself, that it wasn't the end of the world. She'd still been able to live her life. Zander would, too.

They would do it together.

She looked down and realized Courtney was holding one of her hands and her mother clutched the other. She hadn't even felt them. She sniffed and looked her mom in the eye. "I don't care. You need to do the operation."

"Well, we need to discuss it with Zander first," Monica told her. "And we should wait until morning, let him get a bit of rest."

"Will you—can I…can I be the one who tells him?" Emily asked suddenly. She wanted to be the one to break the news to Zander. Because she had the best chance of convincing him to do it. And she had to do it. She had to fight for Zander—for Zander's life—so she could begin fighting for her own again.

Her mother told her that she thought that was a wonderful idea.

That's when Emily knew it.

She was going to live, and Zander was going to live.

And they were going to go on living together.

---------------

Sonny fixated his gaze upon the plain walls in an attempt to appear bored as Scotty let himself into the interrogation room. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. How about that phone call?"

"I'm here now, Corinthos." Scotty plopped into the chair across from Sonny and crossed his arms over his chest, as repulsively smug as ever. "Let's talk."

Sonny shrugged with his shoulders and his mouth. "I got nothing to say to you." Actually, Sonny had plenty to say to the corrupt district attorney, but most of it could be taken as threats against an officer of the court. The rest Baldwin could take and distort so completely that it'd evolve from an overt denial to some sort of whacked confession. Smarter to stay quiet. Sonny took the _anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law_ line seriously.

Scotty made a disapproving clucking noise with his tongue. "That's not the attitude to take. You're facing an attempted murder conviction here, Corinthos."

"Ohhh." Sonny dragged the interjection out, spicing it up with a bit of sarcastic surprise.

"Yeah, that's right," Scotty replied in his I'm-speaking-to-a-two-year-old voice that he seemed to reserve just for Sonny and anyone connected to him. "Let me explain to you what happened at Rice Plaza, if that's okay with you."

Like Scotty needed permission. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Elizabeth gives you a call, says she needs to talk to you. You're not particularly interested—after all, she _is_ the wife of your brother who you happen to despise—so she calls you in on an old debt. You meet at Ric Plaza. She _begs_ you not to hurt her husband. Starts talking about how good and honest Ric is, how kind and loving and trustworthy—"

Sonny chose a section of the ceiling to roll his eyes at. Yeah, Ric, the kidnapper/rapist/liar/blackmailer/murderer, the most kind, loving, trustworthy man in the world. Except for when he murdered someone and made it look like someone else had done it so he could blackmail that someone else's girlfriend (who happened to be his brother's half-sister) into marrying him. How lucky Elizabeth was to be married to such an all around wonderful person.

"—in fact, she says he's everything you're not." Scotty smirked at this one, no doubt thinking it'd piss Sonny off. It didn't. Being told you were everything Ric wasn't was a _good_ thing, a compliment. "You get a little ticked off. Lose your temper. Give her a little shove. Then you take off." Scotty leaned back, waiting for a response.

Sonny shifted in his seat. "Do you have any proof or is this just another one of your, you know, theories?"

"I have Elizabeth's statement. I'm sure your attorney will convince a judge to rule Elizabeth's pregnancy and miscarriage inadmissible in court, but who knows? I might slip, accidentally mention it, if you know what I mean. The judge might tell them to disregard that comment, but it will hover in their subconscious. No self-respecting citizen will leave a baby-killer out on the street!"

Sonny touched his hand to his upper lip, processing the information, his expression bland while his mind raced. "I'm sure you had a point in there somewhere, but I must have missed it." Sonny was careful to keep his tone one of arrogant disinterest.

"An attempted murder conviction is going to land you a _long_ stay in Pentinville, Corinthos. How's Carly, by the way?"

Sonny glanced up, swearing at himself afterwards for letting Baldwin catch him off guard.

"She's pregnant, isn't she? How long do you think the wife of the great mob boss Sonny Corinthos is going to last with her hubby in jail? How long until your enemies make a move?"

The anger was seeping out, darkening the edges of his vision. "Shut up." He offered the two words as a warning.

Scotty looked like he was suppressing a grin. Which meant he wasn't about to shut up. He loved making Sonny squirm. "She'll have to take off with Michael, moving from place to place, trying to keep one step ahead of the Five Families. She'll probably end up having your baby in a trailer park!"

"_Shut up!_" If Sonny wasn't chained to the chair, he would have leapt up, wrapped his hands around Baldwin's neck, and strangled him.

"My, my, temper, temper." Sonny had been so focused on Baldwin, he hadn't noticed Ric make his grand entrance into the interrogation room. "All it takes is one little thing and"—Ric snapped his fingers—"the great Sonny Corinthos snaps. We won't even have to convince a jury. My big brother here will do the work _all_ by himself."

Sonny let out a laugh lacking any humor. Scotty hadn't _had_ a point. He'd merely been seeing how easy it was to tick Sonny off. It was a setup. And he, like an idiot, had fallen for it.

---------------

"I really need to get back to work, but if you need anything, Em, anything at all, come get me."

Emily gave her mother a hug. "I will, Mom. Thanks for being honest with me."

"Always, Emily. Always." Monica gave her one last squeeze before walking off.

Emily turned to Courtney. The young woman looked really stressed out. It hadn't been an easy day for her—finding Zander shot, waiting with her in the hospital, seeing her brother get arrested…

Suddenly Emily remembered her fight with Elizabeth. She could understand why her friend was so upset, but she still didn't understand what had happened, and why Elizabeth thought Sonny was responsible. His arrest had to be troubling Courtney, too—she didn't know anymore about what was going on than Emily did. "Okay, well, I'm going to go see Zander, and I'm probably going to stay with him most of the night, so I'm officially relieving you from your baby-sitting duties."

"You make it sound like a chore. But I don't mind staying. Really, I don't."

Emily really appreciated Courtney's generosity. She was _so_ happy they were going to be related. "I know, and I am really, really grateful. I just thought you might like to check up on your brother, seeing as though he's in jail, and there's no reason for you to stay, so you should."

"Are you sure?" Concern was written all over Courtney's face. "I mean, yeah, of course I want to find out what's going on with Sonny, but if you want me to stay, I can. It's not a problem."

Emily gave her a definite nod. "Yes, I'm sure. Sonny needs you more than I do right now. Besides, I'm being kind of selfish here. You see, if you go to see your brother you can come back later and fill me in on what is going _on_."

Courtney laughed. "Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up. I don't think Sonny's going to tell me much of anything. He never does. But I'll see what I can do."

"If all else fails, we can bug Jason like crazy until he tells us, right?" Emily said perkily.

Courtney gave Emily a goodbye hug. "That's right! I'll come by tomorrow to see how Zander is and give you all the…sparse…details."

"Sparse or anything else is better than what we have," Emily said with grin and started down the hall toward Zander's room in the ICU. The time had come.

---------------

Scotty slapped Ric on the shoulder. "I'll give you two a minute." He peered into the squad room. "Oh, look whose lackey has finally shown up."

Hearing that Jason was there reminded Sonny of something. "When exactly do I get my phone call?" he called after Scotty.

"Ask me later, Corinthos!" Scotty slammed the door.

"Okay, fine, that works, however you wanna do this," Sonny said to the one-way mirror.

Ric had been looking over his shoulder. As soon as the door closed, he reached across the scuffed metal table, grabbed the lapels of Sonny's suit jacket, hauling him out of the chair. Sonny had a hell of a time keeping his balance. "You murdered my child, you worthless bastard!" Their faces were so close, Sonny could feel droplets of Ric's saliva spray his face and see the crazed look in Ric's eyes.

Now would be a good time to remember, he thought to himself. Nothing came to him. Not a damn thing. But there was something there, something that made him say the words, so quiet in contrast to Ric's yelling.

"You got the wrong man."

He didn't know what made him say it. Maybe some pathetic attempt to convince himself. But it felt—it felt like the truth. But maybe that was just because he wanted so badly for it to be. If only he knew for a _fact_ that it was.

"You expect me to believe that? After what you did to our mother? Do you? _Do you?"_

Now there was something he _did_ know. He hadn't pushed Adele. What he'd said to Carly was true—if they hadn't been fighting, she wouldn't have fallen. But he hadn't pushed her. And it was an accident. "I didn't push her."

His words weren't getting Ric to calm down. If anything, they were making him more enraged. "You didn't push her, just like you didn't put her in the hospital! Is that right? _Is that right?_"

Okay. If Ric wanted to believe he'd pushed their mother, and that he'd pushed Elizabeth, fine. That was great, just great. He could live with that. But he would _not _lie down and let Ric walk all over him with accusations that he had hit his own mother. He'd never laid a hand on her. He'd loved Adele. All he'd ever done was try to protect her from that abusive scum she called a husband. Why couldn't Ric get that? How many times did he have to say it before it'd penetrate Ric's thick skull?

"That was Deke!" Sonny yelled back, right in Ric's face.

"Of course. You know what I hate most about you, huh? Do you, Sonny? It's always someone else's fault! Never yours! You never take responsibility!" Ric let go of Sonny with a hard shove. He had to grab hold of the desk and the chair to keep from falling over. "But you know what? That ends! What goes around comes around, and it's finally_—finally—_coming back to you!" Ric stormed out of the room, slamming the door twice as hard as Scotty Baldwin.

Sonny didn't bother to sit up straight. He used his free hand to shield his eyes from the bright lighting. Man, his head hurt.

---------------

Jason watched Ric leave the interrogation room. He looked pissed. Jason looked through the one-way mirror. His best friend looked exhausted. It was a long night that kept getting longer. It'd end for Jason soon enough, but it was going to last until the next morning for Sonny. Jason hadn't been able to reach a halfway decent lawyer. None who were willing to defend an alleged mob boss who'd allegedly thrown a pregnant woman down a flight of stairs were up at this hour. Sonny was going to be stuck in lockup overnight. Jason could only hope that Carly would stick to her word and not go mental. Sonny he knew could handle it. He didn't have much of a choice. But Carly…Carly was unpredictable.

"Can I see him yet?" Jason asked Baldwin. The district attorney had been giving him the cold shoulder since he arrived.

"Be my guest," Baldwin said a little too cheerfully. "Consider this like a trial run. Because this is the way it's gonna be for years to come. Your boss is headed to Pentinville!"

Jason shook his head and went to the door. Overconfident fool.

Sonny peered through his fingers to see who it was, and when he did, he covered his eyes again. "You should be with Emily."

Jason pulled up the seat across from Sonny and leaned on the table. "Courtney's with Emily. She's worried about you. Courtney."

"Yeah, well, you know, she thinks she—she thinks she knows what's going on. But she doesn't. How's Zander?"

Sonny was selling Courtney short. She knew what was going on. She'd seen it happen before. Baldwin was railroading Sonny, like he'd done to Jason and Brenda and countless other innocents during the Alcazar trial. "I don't know. He was still in surgery when I left."

"When you see him, if he's awake or whatever, you should probably—you should warn him. Baldwin he, you know, was flapping away like usual, and he said something about—someone killed John the Dealer. And Baldwin plans on arresting Zander for it, you know?"

Jason frowned. "Whoever did it must have been trying to keep John quiet. He knew something. Something somebody didn't want you to find out. A name. I'll look into it. Look, I've been trying to track down a lawyer, but so far, no luck." Jason shifted gears. "You could…you could get stuck here. Overnight."

Sonny didn't say anything for a minute. Then he just rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

Now seemed like a good time to give Sonny some semi-positive news. "I called Carly. I made her promise not to do anything crazy."

"Oh, so she's not going to show up here, swinging her baseball bat like some late-inning pinch hitter and break me out?" Sonny laughed a little.

Jason couldn't help smiling. But it wasn't really that funny. He could picture Carly doing something just like that. It was the exactly the kind of thing he'd been trying to avoid. "Yeah, well, that's the plan."

"Do you think—I don't know. I mean, Baldwin told me what they have. Is it enough, you know—do you think it'll hold up in court?"

Jason had been waiting for an opportunity to get Sonny to tell him what he needed to know. "I'm not sure. Tell me what happened."

Sonny shrugged, not meeting his gaze. "I don't know. That's part of the problem."

Jason frowned. "What? What do you mean you don't know?"

"I can't—I can't remember, you know what I'm saying?" Sonny glanced at Jason. "I mean, I remember—Elizabeth and I, we were arguing, right? About Ric. She wanted me to promise that no matter what he did, I wouldn't touch him, you know? I told her I couldn't do that, and she said something and I lost it. But I can't _remember_ what she said. I can't _remember_ what happened." Sonny let his hand drop on the table.

That's what Courtney had meant when she said Sonny had looked at her like he was guilty. She hadn't imagined it. It'd really been there. Because Sonny felt guilty that Courtney was defending him when he couldn't remember and he thought he might have done it, which meant he didn't deserve to have Courtney backing him. But of course Sonny hadn't done it and Courtney was right to support him. Why did Sonny always have to think the worst of himself?

"You didn't do it."

"That's what Carly said."

Good for Carly. "She's right."

Sonny ignored him. "And like I told her, you weren't there."

"I didn't need to be. You did _not_ push Elizabeth."

"You should go be with Emily, go home, or something. There's nothing you can do here."

Just like Sonny. Changing the subject whenever it started heading somewhere he didn't want to go. "You sure?"

"Yeah, of course I'm sure."

Typical. "All right. I'll be back in the morning." Jason got up to leave, and almost walked into Baldwin, who was once again entering the room, this time with two cops trailing him.

"You done your little heart-to-heart?" Scotty asked with his ever-present smirk. "Well, good. Cuff him," he ordered the cop behind him.

"Well, you know, I was sort of under the impression that I was already cuffed here, Baldwin." Sonny gave the chain connecting him to the chair a little tug.

Scotty shot Sonny a disgusted look. "Shut up, Corinthos."

The cop undid the cuff that secured Sonny to the chair only to lock it around Sonny's other wrist. "I guess it's pointless to bring up my phone call," Sonny commented.

"What phone call?" Scotty asked, expression completely blank. Jason knew Scotty knew exactly what Sonny was talking about and was just being an obstinate jerk for the fun of it.

"You know, the one I'm supposed to get. It's a civil rights thing, right? I mean, you're a lawyer, you should know this stuff."

Scotty's smirk turned sour. "Get him out of here," he snapped, and the cops rushed to obey. As he followed them out. Scotty gave Jason a double-take. "And why are _you_ still here?"

Jason shrugged and walked away.

---------------

Emily let herself into Zander's room, leaning back against the door after she closed it. Zander hadn't woken up. He lay, so silent and still, his face so pale. She went over to the chair next to the bed and sat, taking his hand as she did so.

Zander stirred, his eyelids fluttering. "Em—Em—Emily?" he forced out.

"I'm here," she said, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "Shh…I'm here. Don't talk and don't move, all right? Just go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

"Emily—" Zander tried to sit up.

Emily put a hand on his chest. He wouldn't have made it very far, but any movement could affect the fragments. "Shh…sleep. Don't move. My mom doesn't want you to move at all, all right?"

Zander sank back against the pillows with something that was almost relief. "I love you, Em."

"I know. I love you, too." Emily kissed his hand. "Now sleep."

She watched his eyes close and listened to his breath deepen.

---------------

Courtney walked into the squad room, looking around. She didn't see her brother chained to any chairs. Maybe they'd let him go.

Yeah, right, Courtney. Not in this lifetime, a little voice said mockingly. Scotty Baldwin and Lieutenant Taggert would never pass up a chance like this. And Ric? Ric had been waiting for an opportunity like this his entire life. He'd never drop the charges.

Okay, think, Courtney, think. Where would they take Sonny? The squad room would be the first stop, and he obviously wasn't there. The next was the interrogation room—she could see through the one way mirror that no one was inside.

"Looking for your brother?"

Courtney had to fight all her instincts not to jump at the sound of Scotty Baldwin's voice right behind her. An idea came to her. When she'd held a gun on AJ to get him to confess to perjury, Baldwin hadn't pressed charges. He'd taken her word over Ric's when Jason took off with the tire iron. Maybe if she played the weak, helpless little girl card…

She turned around, chin trembling. "Y-yes," she whispered. "Wh-where is he?" She sniffed, trying to work up some halfway believable fake tears.

"He's in lockup. You can't see him."

"B-b-but I need to see him," Courtney wailed. "It's just—I can't—I don't want to believe he would do something like this, but I-I'm just not sure. I s-spoke to Elizabeth and she swears it's the truth and I don't think she ever would lie. I have to talk to him. I have to hear from him what h-happened. P-please."

Scotty made a contemplative face. "You know, it's too bad that such a nice girl like you got stuck with Sonny Corinthos for a big brother. But, you know, you seem awfully upset. I think I could make an exception. Just hold on a minute while I get it cleared with the guards."

"T-thank you so much," Courtney said, covering her grin with her hand and disguising her giggle with a fake hiccup. Sucker!

---------------

Sonny paced the prison cell. It was pretty big, as far as prison cells went, about twenty by twenty. What was that that Taggert had told him once? The cells in Pentinville were about a third of this size. Small. Compact. Soundproof.

The cells in the Port Charles City Jail weren't soundproof. If they were, Sonny might have screamed. But here, people could hear him. And he couldn't show weakness. If the cops knew, if they even suspected, that he was—that he didn't like being locked up, then they'd lock him up whenever they brought him in, on any charge they could think of, just to watch him twitch.

Sonny shrugged out of his suit jacket and threw it on the cot, unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt. He couldn't breathe. He hated not being able to breathe. It was like as the room closed in around him, seemingly becoming smaller and smaller, it was forcing the air out of his lungs so he could never quite get enough of it.

He tried not to look outside of the cell. When he did, everything became distorted. Everything outside the cell began to appear further and further away.

But the worst part wasn't not being able to breathe, or wanting to scream, or feeling trapped. It was the helpless feeling. It brought him back to when he was a kid, before he could fight. Back to when Deke used to lock him in a closet while he beat his mother. He could hear Adele's screams in his head. They were burnt into his memory.

He heard the metal doors sliding but he didn't look their way. He'd sent Jason away. There was no way he was getting out of here tonight. He was going to be stuck until morning.

"You got a visitor, Corinthos."

Sonny turned at the sound of Scott's voice, squinting at the figure behind him in order to focus. It was Courtney. "What's she doing here?"

"She wanted to see you, and I was feeling generous, so I said why not? After all, it's not like you'll be having much brother-sister bonding time when you're in Pentinville!" Scotty laughed evilly and left them alone.

Sonny waited until the sliding metal door clanged shut. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you sick?" Courtney asked.

Damn it. She could tell something was wrong with him. "No, I'm not sick. Why are you here?" Sonny continued pacing. He couldn't look at her because she'd go in and out of focus. He knew she was really right outside the bars, but it seemed like she was a mile away.

"You look awful."

"I want you to leave." Sonny gestured toward the security door. "Get out."

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

Courtney was stubborn. So was Sonny. This wasn't going to work. "I asked you to leave. If you don't leave now, I'll have the guard drag you out. Do you want that?"

"I don't know why I bothered. I knew that you weren't going to tell me anything. I'm just your sister. I don't deserve to be clued in on what's going on!"

Something else they had in common. Tempers. "That's right!" Sonny agreed. He didn't really care if he hurt her feelings. He wanted her gone.

"What is _wrong_ with you? All I want to do is help!"

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Sonny yelled. Why'd she keep asking stuff like that? Then it hit him. Why hadn't he thought of it before? "Carly sent you, didn't she? Damn it!"

"What? No, Carly didn't send me! I was at the hospital when they arrested you, remember? And you wouldn't talk to me, remember? I want to know what happened!"

You're not the only one. "Guard!"

"You're throwing me out?" Courtney sounded incredulous.

"What's going on?" the police officer who came to the security door inquired.

"She wants to leave," Sonny replied, keeping his eyes on the concrete floor, forcing himself to stand still.

"I do not—" Courtney began to hiss through clenched teeth.

Sonny was sick of yelling and being yelled at. His head hurt bad enough as it was, and he had a long, sleepless night to look forward too. And no aspirin. "Go," he said, barely able to hear himself. "Please."

He heard the door clang open, retreating footsteps, and then it clanging shut. When he looked up, Courtney was gone.

---------------

Emily blinked back tears as she looked at Zander. How could she have been so blind to the truth? She started speaking, needing to say the words aloud even if Zander couldn't hear.

------------------------------------------------  
I didn't notice  
But I didn't care  
I tried being honest  
But that lead me nowhere…  
------------------------------------------------

"Oh, Zander. I've been lying to you for such a long time. I have been handling everything so badly. I should have been honest with you from the beginning. But I was scared. I thought that because my mom had died that I would, too. I kept pushing you away because I, um, I didn't want to drag you through breast cancer. I didn't want to give you that false hope, you know? The hope that I would somehow beat this that you'd carry with you through all the surgeries and all the chemo. The hope you'd carry with you until the very end. Until you sat next to me in some hospital and watched me die. So I tried to set you free, give you back your life."

------------------------------------------------  
And one of these days  
I won't be afraid of staying with you  
I hope and I pray  
Waiting to find a way back to you  
'Cause that's where I'm home…  
------------------------------------------------

"Now I realize how wrong I was. My parents, Elizabeth, and Nikolas—they all told me that I should tell you the truth. And they were right. What I didn't realize then and I do now is that…I could lose you at any time. You could be gone without me having said 'I love you' or 'goodbye.' And I would never, ever want that to happen."

------------------------------------------------  
What would you do if I could have you?  
Oh, if I could  
I'd let you feel everything I'm thinking  
Wouldn't that be nice?  
------------------------------------------------

"When you think about it, life's just one big leap of faith. You take chances everyday, knowing you could get stuck by lightning or hit by a car or…or shot. I forgot all about that. I kept telling myself that I was going to die, and I had to protect you from that. But you know what? The cancer—it could kill me in a couple months. Or something could kill you tomorrow, the day after. We have to make the most of the time we have. And if life's so short, we might as well be happy, right?"

------------------------------------------------  
Wouldn't that be nice…?  
------------------------------------------------

"So, tomorrow. Tomorrow when you're wide awake, I'm going to tell you the truth, because I…I am not afraid anymore. I'm going to stop lying back and waiting for the cancer to take me. I'm going to _fight_ it, and I'm going to fight for you. We're going to make through this, Zander. And we're going to come out of it stronger than ever before."

Emily lay her head down on their entwined fingers and closed her eyes. They were going to make it. Together. Forever. However long forever turned out to be.

------------------------------------------------  
One of these days  
I won't be afraid of staying with you…  
------------------------------------------------

---------------

Song Credit:  
_Song Title_: One of These Days  
_Artist_: Michelle Branch  
_Album:_ Hotel Paper ©2003 Maverick Records

: One of These Days: Michelle Branch Hotel Paper ©2003 Maverick Records

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Michelle Branch or Maverick Records and am making no profit from including portions of this song's lyrics in my fan fiction.


	7. Chapter Seven

**The Fallout **

Chapter Seven

Emily awoke to the sensation of someone gently stoking her auburn hair, which was a bit thinner since she'd started chemo. Large clumps hadn't started falling out yet. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds. It felt so good to be back with Zander and to know she was going to be with him for many years to come.

She finally forced herself to raise her head and to look into her favorite set of brown eyes on the entire planet.

"Have you been here all night?" Zander asked, not taking his fingers from the back of her head.

"Yeah," Emily admitted breathlessly. It had taken a long while for her to fall asleep and she was tired. She wasn't as exhausted as she felt a few hours after chemo, but she was still worn out, physically and emotionally. It felt like days had passed since she had gotten Courtney's message. She tried to work up the courage to tell Zander about the possibility of paralysis and her breast cancer, but she couldn't decide what to tell him first. Even if she could, she doubted she could bring herself to spring it on him so soon.

"You should go home, get some rest."

That was really sweet of him, but it'd take two of Sonny's biggest bodyguards to drag Emily away from Zander, and even then she wouldn't go without kicking and screaming. She almost laughed at the mental image. It would be a sight to see. Luckily, it wouldn't be necessary. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. I don't really want you to leave anyway." Zander gave her chin a little pinch and smiled that little smile she loved so much. "So…have I had any interesting visitors while I was passed out?"

"Courtney and Jason were here earlier, as in last night, but Jason had to, um, leave and I sent Courtney away after you got out of surgery."

Zander frowned. "They were here?"

"They were the ones who found you. Don't you remember?" Emily knitted her eyebrows together.

Zander slowly shook his head. "I remember John and the gun…and being shot…No, I guess I don't." He shrugged.

"Ah." Emily figured he was probably drifting in and out of consciousness when her brother and Courtney found him, so she wasn't surprised. "Sonny was here, too."

"Sonny was _here_? To see _me?_"

Emily had never really thought about why Sonny was there, so she took a moment to mull it over. "Jason said he was going to call him, and then he showed up, so I, um, assume it was to talk to you."

"Where'd he go? Is he still around?"

"No. He sort of got…sidetracked." Emily laughed. Sidetracked. Sure. Talk about the understatement of the year _and_ a lame choice of words. Who said that Sonny Corinthos got _sidetracked_ anyway? _He had something—_or _someone—to take care of, _maybe. But not _sidetracked_.

"Sidetracked?" Zander inquired with a smile. He obviously thought her chosen word was funny, too.

"By an attempted murder arrest," Emily offered, half to inform him, half to redeem herself.

Zander's expression turned serious. "I'm sorry, Em. You didn't need Jason getting arrested on top of everything else."

Emily shook her head rapidly. "Uhn-uh. No, Sonny was the one who got arrested."

Zander did a little recoil motion. "Whoa. That's a surprise."

He had that right. "It _was_ a surprise. For everyone." Especially Courtney, though she'd stepped up to the plate and defended Sonny brilliantly.

"Who'd he try to kill?"

Emily bit her bottom lip. "Elizabeth."

Zander did another double take.

---------------

The first rays of dawn leaked in through the window of Elizabeth's hospital room, bathing the walls and the foot of her bed in a splash of gold. Ric smiled as his young wife began to stir.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lansing. How are you feeling?" he inquired, pushing her hair off her forehead.

"Well, Mr. Lansing, I'll feel better when I can go home," Elizabeth replied honestly, a forced smile playing across her mouth.

"Now, where exactly is home?" Ric wondered aloud. "Your studio? My apartment?"

"Wherever you are." She smiled for real.

Ric bent and gave her a kiss. "Dr. Meadows will be along in a minute. She says she has some good news to share with us. And in the meantime, I have some good news as well."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in interest. "Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Mmm-hmm." Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment and then said, "Well, are we going to sit here all day, or you are you going tell me what this good news of yours _is_?"

Ric shook himself. He'd gotten lost admiring how much better she looked after a full night's rest. Now he put his mind to business. "Oh, sorry. Well, first off, Sonny's in jail."

"Oh, good." Elizabeth looked immensely relieved. She made a face. "There's more, isn't there? There's a 'but' in there somewhere."

"Yes," Ric reluctantly admitted. "There's a remote possibility that he could be released on bail after today's arraignment, but hear me out. Mr. Baldwin is going to argue that Sonny poses a high flight risk, and I'm sure the judge will agree, but just in case he doesn't, the bodyguard we discussed last night is right outside the door. I don't want you to go anywhere alone, all right? Even if Sonny's in jail, his men are still out on the streets."

"This sounds a little extreme, but I know it's for my own good."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Elizabeth called.

Dr. Meadows stepped into the room, lightly closing the door behind her. The warmth in her expression contrasted greatly with the uniform scrubs and immaculate white lab coat that she wore. Tortoiseshell glasses hung from the embroidered pocket, and she held a clipboard. "Hello, Mr. Lansing." She nodded to him. "Elizabeth, how are you feeling?"

"I really want to go home."

Dr. Meadows nodded understandingly. "You should be released this afternoon, after your husband signs the release forms and one final exam. Have you experienced any more cramping or bleeding?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Ric tells me you have some good news."

Dr. Meadow made a notation on her clipboard and offered them a bright smile. "Yes, I do. There is no permanent damage as a result of the miscarriage. You are young and healthy, and should be able to get pregnant again and carry to term."

"Oh, that's wonderful. We can still have a family," Elizabeth said, her entire face lighting up as she squeezed Ric's hand.

"And we will, as soon as we're ready." Ric smiled. They both knew that nothing would replace the child they lost, and they would never forget or stop loving it, but that wasn't going to keep them from making another when the time was right.

"Mr. Lansing, I'm going to give Elizabeth that exam now. Would you please step outside?"

"Of course." Ric gave his gorgeous bride one last kiss. "I'm going to head down to the police station, make sure Baldwin's properly prepared for the arraignment. I don't want anything to go wrong. I'll be back as soon as it's over, and I'll take you home."

"I can hardly wait. Hurry back."

He grinned. "You know I will."

---------------

There were no windows in the Port Charles City Jail. No clock. No way to tell what time of day it was. Which was probably a good thing, now that Sonny thought of it, because if there had been a clock, he'd watch the agonizingly slow hands revolve around the face, the impossibly loud ticking resonating in his head.

So he paced. And he watched. And he waited. He saw the guard change. That had to be a good sign, right? The day shift had to relieve the night shift, so it had to be getting near morning. Near the time when he'd be let out of this cage.

The minutes—or were they hours?—crept by. No one came.

---------------

Courtney grabbed the nearly empty sugar dispenser and shook the tiny white grains into it, spilling some on the Formica counter. She swept the stray sugar back into the bag, not worrying about germs. She'd scrubbed the counter within an inch of its life when she first came in, so it had to be bacteria-free, right? She rolled up the bag, and stomped into the kitchen, where she grabbed a carton of heavy cream from the refrigerator. She proceeded to stomp back to the counter, slopping the milky liquid half in and half out of the stainless steel creamer. She grabbed her disinfectant-laden rag and wiped up the mess before returning the cream to the fridge. One of her customer's mugs was almost empty. Without being asked, she poured him some more coffee and then slammed the clearly marked DECAF pot back into the coffee maker.

"Are you all right, miss?" the man asked.

"Fine. Great. Never been better," she replied with the most forced fake-smile she'd ever worn. She went after the napkins under the counter. When she came up again, the man grabbed her wrist, which was probably a good thing, because she would have shredded the napkins to pieces trying to fold them into triangles.

"Are you sure?"

Courtney met the man's eyes. He was an older gentleman, probably in his mid- to late fifties, with glossy brown locks laced with gray and deeply concerned brown eyes. He looked like somebody's grandfather—the kind, loving type, as opposed to the controlling, conniving, pompous generation that was best represented by Edward Quartermaine. Courtney was immediately put at ease.

She offered him a shy smile. "It's nothing, really. Family stuff."

"Ah," the man said, and sat back with a smile. "Give it time. Things may change."

Courtney snorted. "Not with my brother."

The man's smile didn't fade away at her angry tone. "How can you be sure?"

"No amount of time is going to change Sonny Corinthos," Courtney replied bitterly.

The man looked absolutely shocked. The same reaction everyone gave when they found out she was related to the infamous mod boss. Half of her was happy someone else was thinking negatively of her brother. The other half wanted to tell him Sonny wasn't the monster that everyone seemed to think he was.

Another customer called, "Hey! Can I get some service over here?"

Jerked abruptly back into her bad mood, Courtney grabbed his plate of food from the shelf and delivered it to him. She stalked back to the counter with dirty dishes from another table and dropped them carelessly into the sink.

That's when Carly showed up.

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're going to break something if you're not careful. What's the matter?"

"What's the matter is that I have to fill in for that little twit Elizabeth while she recuperates in the hospital and laughs with her sick husband about putting my brother in jail for something he didn't do. What's the matter is that while I'm working Elizabeth's shift I should be at the hospital with Emily and Zander like I promised I would be. What's the matter is that Jason never came home last night and I don't know where he is or what kind of trouble he could be in. What's the matter is my big brother had me thrown out of the police station when all I was trying to do was help! That's what's the matter!" Courtney didn't mean to snap, but she'd been holding in the anger, resentment, and worry all through a restless night followed by a morning where she had to pretend to be happy for Kelly's customers.

"Wait a second. You didn't just say you went down to the _police station_? Oh, Courtney, tell me you didn't."

"It's not like it did any good anyway!" Courtney fumed. "All Sonny did was yell at me!" She didn't bother mentioning how Sonny had gone all quiet at the end. At first she thought it was just so the guard wouldn't overhear, but she couldn't get out of her head how sick he'd looked. What was up with that? He'd been fine in the hospital. Maybe he was just tired.

Courtney kicked herself. What was she doing, worrying about what was wrong with Sonny? She was supposed to be mad at him!

"Sonny didn't want you down there. He didn't want either of us down there. That's why Jason made me promise not to do anything crazy, which equals staying away. Jason must have told you you can't try to save him, or Sonny. It only makes things worse. I know, because, believe me, I've tried. You just have to sit back and wait. It's hard, but you have to do it. You have to. It's the price we pay to be with good men like Sonny and Jason." Carly smiled wistfully.

Courtney sighed. Carly was right, of course. "How'd you do it, Carly? How'd you hold everything together with Sonny being in jail?"

"I ransacked the kitchen for junk food. I ended up stealing the cookies that were supposed to go with Michael's lunch. Isn't that terrible?" Carly wrinkled her nose as she smiled.

Courtney laughed. Poor Michael. At break he was going to go rooting through his lunch box only to discover he had no dessert. "I'm sure he'll forgive you. Now, seriously."

Her sister-in-law was absently raking her nails against each other, a faraway look in her eyes. "Well, I guess it was just knowing that however bad I think it is, what Sonny is going through is a lot worse."

Courtney frowned. That didn't make sense. What was Carly talking about? She'd been held overnight once and it was no picnic, but it couldn't begin to compare to the anxiety of last night. "What do you mean?"

Carly's seemed to wake up from her thoughts and tried to shrug it off as nothing. "No, never mind. I shouldn't have said that."

She wasn't buying it. "Does this have something to with why Sonny threw me out? Or why he looked so sick?"

Biting her lip, Carly sat still for a moment, apparently mulling it over. After what seemed like forever, she leaned forward and spoke quietly. "All right, I'll tell you. But you have to swear you won't tell anybody this. Not a word."

So this was a big deal. Courtney couldn't help leaning forward. "I won't. I promise. Just tell me."

"Okay, well, um…" Carly lowered her voice to a dead-serious conspiratorial whisper, fingers intertwined and palms flat on the counter. "Sonny—he—he can't be locked in with no way out."

What was that supposed to mean? Was it some kind of cryptic code? "I don't underst—"

"He's claustrophobic. Sonny's claustrophobic."

Courtney's eyes widened.

---------------

Neither Courtney nor Carly noticed an evil smile spread across the face of the man who had been sitting at the counter. Nor did they notice him gulp down the last of his coffee, throw some money next to the empty mug, abandon his stool, and push through the double doors of Kelly's.

---------------

"Look, I pulled some pretty stupid stunts while you were away," Zander said. "Stunts Sonny could have killed me for, all right? But he didn't because Elizabeth asked him not to. He cares if she gets hurt. He has a soft spot for her. I don't like Sonny too much, and I don't know what happened, but I can't see him doing this."

Emily glanced up, startled. Realization dawned on her. Zander must think she thought Sonny was guilty. "Oh, neither can I," she said quickly.

"But Elizabeth—"

"She says Sonny tried to kill her. And I know she must have a _really_ good reason to think that because Elizabeth would _never_ lie about something this big." Emily couldn't figure it out. Why would Elizabeth think that Sonny had done it? She began picking apart their conversation in her head.

Zander raised his eyebrows and shook his head, probably letting all the big news sink in. "So what happened?"

"Elizabeth and Ric got married last night. This perfectly dreadful woman, Faith—"

"Oh. _Her_."

Emily paused in her storytelling to ask, "You know her?"

"Sort of. I work for Ned, and Ned worked with her for awhile but ditched her as soon as he realized how much trouble she is. She's tried to kill Sonny a zillion times. She hired a hit at Carly's club but it can't be proved because there's no paper trail and the shooter dropped dead from a heart attack. Funny thing is, her grandmother died of the same thing only a few weeks before. Right after a meeting with Faith."

Emily's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. "She killed her own _grandmother?_" That was terrible. That was absolutely _horrifying._

Zander held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just repeating what I heard."

Emily lowered her hand to her heart and tried to get her tongue to function properly. "Anyway, Faith called Elizabeth and told her Sonny planned on killing Ric for something or another, so Elizabeth got Sonny to meet her. She…"—Emily slowed down, trying to remember what Elizabeth had said—"…asked him to promise he wouldn't hurt Ric, and he said no. He got really mad and Elizabeth said she was scared so she went to the stairs, and then…" What was it that Elizabeth had said? Emily strained her memory to remember…

Someone pushed me.

"Someone pushed her." The significance of those words hit Emily like a ton of bricks. She looked Zander right in the eye. "That's exactly what she said. 'Someone pushed me.' She didn't say Sonny pushed her. She said someone did. She turned her back on Sonny and then someone pushed her."

Zander nodded slowly, getting it. "It sounds like she didn't see who pushed her."

"She must have assumed it was Sonny," Emily finished his line of thought. She felt like getting up and leaping for joy. She settled for snapping her fingers. "I _knew_ there was an explanation."

---------------

"I can't _believe_ I didn't figure it out. It's so easy to put two and two together. I mean, I know Sonny's stepfather used to lock him in a closet—"

"Sonny _told_ you that?" Carly stared openly, unable to picture her husband telling Courtney about that. Sonny didn't talk about Deke with anyone, not even her. The few times she uttered his name, he either changed the subject or told her to shut up. So why on earth would he tell his sister?

"Well, no. I was giving Sonny a hard time about the way he treated Mike, and Alexis told me so I'd have some idea why he has such a hard time forgiving people, especially Mike."

Alexis, that self-righteous witch. Didn't it matter to her that she was a lawyer and anything Sonny told her about his past was supposed to be _confidential!_ Of course not. God, she hated Alexis. She was so glad she didn't represent Sonny anymore.

"How bad is it?" Courtney asked, pulling Carly from her hateful thoughts.

It took a moment for Carly to figure out what she meant. "The claustrophobia? He can't breathe. He paces. He can handle it for a night or two, but longer than that…" Carly trailed off. Sonny had told her once he wouldn't be able to stand being locked up for more than a few days. He'd have a breakdown. It wouldn't be like when he fell in the darkness, unable to see the good in anything, thinking about what he'd lost, trying to destroy whatever he had left. With her help and Jason's, he could pull himself back from that. He always did. But if Sonny were to go away to prison, he'd really be gone. Neither she nor Jason would be able to reach him ever again. He'd be lost to the people who loved him forever. "I don't know, Courtney. I think he'd lose his mind." Carly sniffed, trying not to cry. She was supposed to be being strong here. Setting a good example for Courtney.

Courtney came around the counter and gave her a hug. "It'll be okay, Carly. Sonny's not going to jail."

"No, of course not," Carly said, pulling back and wiping her nose. "Well, Michael only has a half-day, so I should get home and think up something that's almost as fun as the park."

"Tell you what. When my shift is over, I'll get Rosie from Mrs. Larosa and Michael can come over my place and play with her. Or I could come over your place, but for some reason I don't think Sonny would approve of us playing fetch with her in the penthouse." Courtney laughed over the last part.

"Fetch in the penthouse is fine, so long as it's not _his_ penthouse," Carly replied, laughing as she headed out.

---------------

Gia Campbell tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the incredibly slow elevator to reach the floor she wanted. She'd dashed over here the minute she found out from her brother, Marcus Taggert, that Zander had been shot and was going to be arrested for the murder of Angry John the Dealer, killed with his own gun. Marcus said the only evidence that Zander had done it was the prints on the gun, which could easily have been left while they were struggling. He stuck by his proclamation that Zander was bad news, but he believed he was innocent because the timing wasn't right. There was no getting through to that corrupt pain in the you-know-what Scott Baldwin, though, who would do just about anything to convict someone for a murder this year. His current track record of zero convictions wasn't the best thing to go into a reelection campaign with.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Gia walked as fast as she could without breaking into a jog to the nurse's station, where a young woman was flipping through a folder.

"Excuse me. Could you tell me what room Zander Smith is in?"

The nurse pointed down a hallway. "Room 204."

"Thank you." Gia started in the direction she had indicated and soon found the door. She peaked through the narrow pane of glass and saw Emily sitting with Zander. She thought she probably shouldn't barge in, but she didn't feel like waiting any longer. Gia pushed into the room and it was all she could do not to run to the bed.

"God, Zander, I was _so_ worried about you," she said. "Marcus told me all about it."

"Gia. Hey," he and Emily said at almost exactly the same time.

"Am I allowed to give you a hug?" Gia inquired, perching on the edge of the bed.

Zander opened his mouth to speak, but Emily piped up first. "Um, no, actually. You're not supposed to move too much. Mom told me that."

"So are you okay?" Gia asked before she realized what a stupid thing it was to say. "Don't answer that question. Of course you're not okay. You just got shot."

Zander grinned. "No comment. But you know what, I'm really happy to see you."

Gia cocked an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Well, for starters, it doesn't hurt to have two beautiful, intelligent women in the same room"—Gia rolled her eyes and Emily laughed—"and I need to ask you for a favor."

"Sure," Gia agreed immediately. She and Zander were friends, and he'd just been shot; she'd help him any way she could. "What do you need?" Emily looked from Zander to Gia and back again as if she had no better an idea what this favor was than Gia.

"Did Taggert happen to mention anything about Sonny when you talked to him?" Zander asked.

Gia had no clue where Zander was going with this, but she answered anyway. "Marcus said something about him being in jail…?"

"Look, Gia, you and I both know how corrupt Scott Baldwin is. How many different people did he arrest during the Alcazar murder trial? How many fire chiefs has he bribed?"

Gia still had no idea what he was getting at.

"You know how Baldwin works. Do you think you can convince him to let Sonny go?"

Gia drew back a little. Scotty bribing a chief not to reveal that the fire at the gatehouse was arson was one thing. Scotty locking up Sonny Corinthos was another. She hardly knew him, but if anything on the news and in the papers was true, he deserved to go to jail for a _very_ long time. "Okay, slow down. First off, you don't even like Sonny. Second, I don't even know what he supposedly did."

Emily jumped in. "He supposedly pushed Elizabeth down a flight of stairs, causing her to lose her baby and getting him an attempted murder charge." Emily didn't seem at all fazed by this.

But if a cartoon artist were to sketch the scene, Gia's jaw would have been drawn on the floor. Sonny had pushed Elizabeth down a flight of stairs and Zander wanted her to—"And you want me to _what!_" she screeched.

Emily quickly explained her theory on why Elizabeth thought Sonny had pushed her, and why she and Zander both believed Sonny was innocent.

Gia blew out a breath, processing it. The more the thought about their reasons, the more it seemed Sonny was innocent. Sonny _had_ been awfully nice to Elizabeth. When they had to convince Helena that Elizabeth was dead, Sonny had arranged for her to stay in a room down in one of his Puerto Rican properties. And Lucky didn't seem particularly intimidated by him…but Zander… "You don't even like Sonny," she repeated. "Why do you care that he's in jail?

Zander sighed and began to explain himself. "Look, Sonny doesn't do drugs. He's the only thing standing in the way of that stuff being all over the streets. The dealers know drugs are off-limits in his territory, and the smart ones are too scared to go against him and sell it anyway. If you take him out of the picture—never mind that he didn't push Elizabeth—what do you think is gonna happen? How many kids are going to end up addicted like Emily? In the hospital like Maxie? Worse?"

Gia nodded slowly. He had a good point. "All right. I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. This is _not_ going to be easy."

"Thank you so much." Emily gave her a hug.

Since Emily had told him not to move, Zander settled for squeezing her hand. "Thanks and good luck."

"I'm really glad you're okay," she said and headed out to save the world—or at least the population of Port Charles—from easy-to-obtain drugs.

---------------

The hours until Penny would relieve Courtney from her shift crawled by. In a better, if somewhat dismal mood now that she knew what had been going on with Sonny, she was more talkative and polite to customers as she waited on them, and more gentle on the appliances.

As she loaded dirty dishes into the plastic bin, fingers brushed her elbow, sending that familiar shock of electricity through her veins. Courtney knew who it was before he spoke her name in that gentle, quiet way that made her heart race. "Courtney."

Courtney turned around and locked her arms around Jason's neck, giving him a kiss hello. The remnants of her bad humor were instantly chased away. She couldn't help smiling. "It's so good to see you," she breathed with more feeling than ever before.

As always, Jason saw right through to the meaning behind the words. "Hey. Courtney, look at me." He lifted her chin. "What's wrong?"

Courtney sighed. Now that he was here, safe, his arms around her, it felt like there was nothing wrong with the world, but she couldn't forget what had been bothering her all night and into the morning. "It's just—Zander getting shot really got to me. You didn't come home last night. All I could think about was how you could be somewhere, hurt, shot, worse, just like Zander. How it could have been you."

Jason's eyes bore into hers as he said the words. "But it wasn't."

Courtney sighed and smiled. That was one of the things she loved most about Jason. He didn't question the past or ask "what if." All the mattered to him was the present, and, when it came to her, the future. She wrapped her arms around him. "I know, Jason. I know. It's just—sometimes I can't help thinking it, you know?"

"I'm sorry you're upset. But this—this is what I do, all right? I've told you from the beginning. This is what it's like to work for Sonny. I won't be home every night and sometimes I disappear without warning. You said you understood. But if you can't do this, Courtney…" Jason sighed. "It's not too late to back out."

Courtney met his gaze, startled. Sometimes she found herself getting lost in those eyes, so that she was completely unaware of anything else going on around her. She felt all warm and happy whenever Jason was around. She knew she could entrust him with all her secrets and they would be safe. He'd once told her he'd never read her diary. But if he did, she wouldn't be embarrassed or angry because she wanted to share everything with him—her heart, her love, her life. He had shown her the inner strength she'd never known she'd had, and whenever she thought she couldn't go on, she could draw more strength from him. They were stronger together than apart. She could never leave all of that behind for her, by comparison, insignificant fears.

"Never," she said gently but firmly. "I can do this. I _want_ to do this. It's a chance that's worth taking, because just being with you is worth everything." And she tilted her face up to kiss him.

---------------

Ric waited for the guard to slide open the metal bars that would let him into the cell area and then stepped into the dreary place. Sonny was the only person in lockup, which was a testimony to the PCPD's incompetence. Oh, well. The case against Sonny was airtight with Ric monitoring Baldwin every step of the way. He would make sure nothing went wrong.

Sonny was in the first cell on the right, and he stood, arms crossed, watching, or, more likely, accessing, Ric. Sonny wasn't looking too good. Maybe it was just the poor lighting, but under his deep tan, his skin appeared pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. He wasn't breathing right, either. Too shallow and fast. Ric assumed Sonny was a bit paranoid when it came to prison, so he'd probably stayed up most, if not all, of the night to be ready if some new inmate or bad cop tried to slit his throat. God knew no one but Carly would shed a tear over the crime lord's death.

"Hello, Sonny," Ric said cheerfully. "I just wanted to see you in a prison cell, see exactly how satisfying it is going to be, knowing you'll be in one for the rest of your miserable life."

Sonny said nothing. Just kept giving him that careless, emotionless look tinted with the all-too-familiar arrogance. Ric didn't like that. He was goading Sonny and he wanted him to react.

"I understand you had a visitor last night," Ric continued. "Tell me, Sonny, don't you ever feel ashamed of yourself for letting all these people around you defend you when you're guilty as sin?"

Sonny fixed his gaze upon the ceiling.

---------------

"Look what I got." Emily came back into Zander's hospital room with a lively step, holding before her a tall cardboard coffee cup filled with colorful flowers. She placed it on his nightstand and fiddled with them for a minute. "There. Perfect. I stole them from the hospital garden. I think this room needs them more anyway."

Zander smiled. Here was the Emily he loved, all perky and inventive and fun. "They're beautiful. So are you."

Emily was leaning in for a kiss when someone came into the room.

"Oh, good. You're both here," Monica Quartermaine said, cradling her clipboard. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she added, seeing what she had walked in on. "I'd like to discuss the specifics of the surgery with the two of you."

Zander looked from Emily, who was biting her lip nervously, to Monica, confused. "What surgery?" he inquired.

"Em, you didn't tell him?" Monica sounded surprised.

Zander looked from an even more nervous Emily to Monica again, totally lost. "Tell me what?"

---------------


	8. Chapter Eight

**The Fallout **

Chapter Eight

"Come on, Sonny. Answer me."

"I got nothing to say to you," Sonny said, forcing himself to stand still and trying to keep his breathing steady. He even looked directly at Ric. It wasn't easy, but he'd do whatever it took to keep Ric from seeing what being locked up did to him. Even if Courtney knew the truth, she'd never use it against him, no matter how unfair he was or how much he deserved it. Ric was a different story. Ric would laugh at what it did to him. He'd find a way to keep him locked up until the trial, if the charges couldn't get thrown out. He'd never get his conviction; by that time Sonny would be too unstable to stand trial. And Ric would laugh some more. He'd have won.

Sonny hadn't lost to a hundred rival mobsters. He wasn't about to lose to Ric Lansing.

"Of course not," Ric scoffed. "Because you never feel guilty, do you? You take everything, you destroy people's lives, and I'll admit that some deserve it, but then there's the countless innocents who pay the price, who get hurt, get caught in the crossfire. Elizabeth, my mother—"

Sonny hated Ric for calling her that. Adele's name did not deserve association with this scumbag's. Ric hadn't even known her. He couldn't begin to imagine the hell she went through. All Ric had was a photo of her, smiling and happy. He didn't appreciate the smile, because he hadn't seen how rare they were after she married Deke, how they'd changed her entire face, made her young and beautiful again. Ric didn't know anything.

"—Courtney, even Carly," Ric finished. "But that was all your fault, Sonny. You dragged them into this life, made them targets, and of course I had to take advantage of that."

Ric could justify just about anything. To himself, at any rate. "I know you want something, Ric, because, you know, you always do. What is it?" Sonny retrieved his suit jacket from the cot and shrugged into it, buttoning his shirt. He figured if Ric was here, the cops were only a step behind. Besides, the actions would come across as arrogant to Ric, and that's the impression he wanted to give. Never let the other guy see your weaknesses.

As the guard slid the door open, admitting two other cops, Ric smiled, and the smile seemed a little sad. "I wanted to see you in a prison cell, see exactly how satisfying it is going to be knowing you'll be spending the rest of your miserable life in one." With that, Ric turned away, saying, "He's all yours, gentlemen." He stood by the door, leaving the cops to unlock the cage in which Sonny was trapped. One roughly turned Sonny around and snapped the handcuffs. Then he shoved him in Ric's direction.

"Hey, careful," Sonny said, barely retaining his balance.

"I'm sure it was an accident, Sonny," Ric said in his most sincere of tones. That's how Sonny knew he was lying. "Just like when you pushed our mother down those stairs." He put a hand on Sonny's back. "Now this…what do you say we consider this an accident, huh, big brother?"

Only people who'd had limbs amputated had a real appreciation for the role they played in keeping one's balance. Sonny knew what was coming and he braced himself for it, but there was really no way he could manage it with his hands cuffed behind his back. Try as he might to stay upright, he couldn't pull it off, having expected Ric to push him forward, not to the side. So he fell, hitting his head on a sharp edge of the security door. He hissed at the pain. And he was just starting to get used to the headache.

"Pity. He slipped. They should really do something about the traction down here." Ric pulled Sonny back onto his feet. He felt something warm and wet trickling down his forehead.

The cops didn't object. They merely guided Sonny out of the cell area, toward the squad room, while a whistling, completely remorseless Ric headed for the exit.

---------------

Gia found Scott Baldwin in the squad room, feet propped up on a mahogany desk cluttered with paperwork and fingers laced behind his spiked-blond head. She wondered if he knew how much he resembled a rooster but decided it was better not to say anything. She was trying to stay on Baldwin's good side…sort of. And a comment like that would make her look unprofessional when she meant business.

Or at least when she wanted to _sound_ like she meant business. She wasn't feeling all that confident about her chances of getting Sonny Corinthos out. Scott was a man with a vendetta, and the chances that her plan would work were slim. But it was worth a shot. She'd try to appeal to Baldwin with reason (like that'd work), and if it came to it—which she knew it would—she'd fall back on another tried and true method: blackmail.

If only she had something to blackmail him with…

"We need to talk," she said to the back of his head.

Scott didn't budge from the chair, only swiveled his head to see who it was. "You."

"Me," she agreed, feeling more than a little testy.

"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you around these parts since you tricked me into hiring you as an intern!"

Gia shrugged. "It really wasn't that hard. All I had to do was play off your massive ego. And don't even start with the, 'you're lucky I didn't press charges against you' bit. I caught you red-handed and you know it."

Baldwin scowled. "You want something. What is it?"

Gia held her head high. Way too late to back out. Funny thing was, she didn't want to. "I want to see everything you have on Sonny Corinthos." Gia Campbell, champion of justice.

--------------

Emily tried not to panic. She didn't like being thrown into the position of having to tell Zander. She'd have liked to do it in her own time. But that wasn't an option anymore.

"I think it would be best if Emily were the one to tell you…" Monica said, looking from Emily to Zander uncertainly.

"Tell me what?" Zander demanded, clearly getting upset. She couldn't blame him. If someone was talking like this about her right in front of her, she'd get freaked to. "Emily?"

"Um, um, um," she began, thinking quickly. How could she spring this on him so suddenly? "Zander, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it? Have the drugs affected your heart? Your lungs? Your brain? Is that why you need surgery?"

Oh, no. This was going horribly wrong. He thought there was something wrong with _her._ Oh God. "No, Zander. No. There's nothing wrong with me. You're the one…" She swallowed hard. She needed to say this, to get it out in the open. "You're the one who needs the surgery."

Zander held up his hands. "Whoa, hold on a second. Didn't I already have a surgery?"

Emily was feeling helpless. She couldn't do this alone. "Mom?" she half-begged.

Monica took a deep breath and began to explain. Emily felt like crying when she saw the expression on Zander's face. Shock, sadness, disappointment. When Monica was done, she murmured something about giving them a moment alone, patted Emily's arm, and stepped outside.

Zander lay silent, stunned speechless. Emily's heart broke for him. She knew what it felt like to be told that she'd no longer be able to do some of the things she loved most—going for walks, swimming, running, dancing. It felt like the end of the world. But it wasn't. She had to make Zander see that. "You have to have the surgery, Zander. You have to. Paralysis isn't the end of the world. But not having surgery, not getting the splinters removed…that's…that's the end of your _life_."

Zander swallowed hard. The seconds seemed like hours. Finally, his voice choked, he began to speak. "I'll have the surgery, Em. I will. I mean, there's only a chance I'll be paralyzed, right? Sure, the odds are against me, but the odds have always been against us. We've always pulled through. We'll pull through this. In a couple weeks, we're going to walk out of here, together, and all the more stronger for it." He smiled and lovingly touched her face.

Emily smiled through her tears. Maybe Zander was right. There was a forty percent chance that he wouldn't be paralyzed. And how badly were the odds stacked against them when Sorel wanted Zander dead? What were the chances of them picking up where they left off after more than a year apart? The odds had always been against them. And they'd always beaten them. Why should this time be any different?

--------------

He strolled back into the living room, having listened to the pretty real estate agent drone on about the three bedrooms—perfect for a family—spacious attic and kitchen, first- and second-floor baths, and lovely location.

He didn't care about any of this.

Sure, the house was beautiful, comfortable. And if you had to live somewhere, you might as well live in comfort. But he'd have lived in a complete dump if the place had the feature he wanted.

Finally, he managed to get a word in edgewise. "The house is lovely, but I'm really only interested in the…security feature we discussed."

The woman nodded, understanding. She pulled two small objects out of her purse. "It can be accessed by either of these remotes, and in case you lose both of them, or the code is somehow changed, there is an override, located in this bookcase." She indicated a white button just above the shelf. She pressed it.

A panel of the wall, directly across from the front door, slid open to reveal a cell of sorts. Awed, he stepped toward it, and then into it, taking in the windowless, soundproof walls, the lack of space. On the left were metal shelves with square black bags for storage. You could keep weeks supplies of food and water in them, if that's what you intended to use the room for. Monitors to which security cameras were hitched showed two scenes—an outside view of the front door, and the living room. Perfect for security purposes. If that's what you intended to use them for.

They called hidden, secret rooms likes these panic rooms.

The name was highly appropriate. Ironic, almost.

It'd be perfect.

"You told me price is no option, but we could negotiate if there's a problem, Mr.—"

He shook his head. "No. I'll take it. It's just what I need."

He smiled.

---------------

Baldwin's eyes bugged out of his head. Apparently he didn't like this Gia Campbell, champion of justice thing. He was in for a rude awakening if he was still in office when she got her law degree.

But that was years down the road. Now all that mattered was getting information. Baldwin had a big mouth; maybe he'd let something slip that she could use for leverage against him.

"I understand Mr. Corinthos was brought in on an attempted murder charge based on the statement of one Elizabeth Webber-Lansing. I'd like to see that statement," Gia tried again, hoping the statement would contain what she hoped it would obtain—Elizabeth using vague language, never straight out saying Sonny pushed her. Her ship was sunk if it didn't.

Snapping out of whatever world he'd been in, Scotty talked, using his overdone gestures. "Think about this. Elizabeth is your friend. Sonny Corinthos pushed her down a flight of stairs. She was pregnant. Now she's not."

Beating around the bush, as usual. And she and Elizabeth had never been "friends." More or less friendly acquaintances, nothing more. Gia tapped her foot impatiently. "Did Elizabeth tell you this?"

"It's all in her statement." Baldwin was smug.

"Is it? Did Elizabeth say Sonny Corinthos pushed her down a flight of stairs, or that someone did?"

"I'll make this simple for you. Elizabeth met Corinthos at Rice Plaza. They discussed Ric. Sonny doesn't like Ric. Elizabeth's married to Ric. Elizabeth defended Ric. Sonny got mad. He's got this anger management problem, you know? So he gave her a shove. Took off. Left a pregnant woman unconscious and bleeding at the bottom of the stairs with no one else around."

"Do you have any physical evidence to back this theory?"

Scotty scowled. "Who do you think you are, Sonny's lawyer? Hate to break it to you, but you're _nobody's_ lawyer. You're not even out of law school!"

"I don't have to have a law degree to tell you're corrupt and railroading yet another innocent man. Take a moment and think about the bad press. Sonny Corinthos's attorney is going to tear you to pieces, then feed the scraps to the media." It was the only card she had left to play.

"You're sort of jumping the gun a little bit there, Gia, if you know what I'm saying. I'd have to, like, you know, be permitted to contact my attorney before he could get to work embarrassing Baldwin in front of the good people of Port Charles."

Gia hardly glanced at Sonny, who had appeared flanked by two macho guards who gave off the incredibly fake I'm-so-tough aura of some of the cops under Scotty's wing. Here was more ammunition! Sonny Corinthos had good timing. "He didn't allow you to make a phone call?"

One of the guards went about cuffing Sonny to one of those all-to-handy chairs. "I'm sure Baldwin would blame it on, you know, lack of communication or something."

"Bottom line is, you weren't given your one phone call?" Gia pressed. When Sonny shook his head "no," she hardly suppressed her grin. "That's a violation of his civil rights, which calls for the automatic dropping of all charges filed against him."

Baldwin's upper lip curled in a snarl. "His attorney can tell that to me! You're not his attorney! I'll—" Baldwin appeared to search for a threat—"I'll charge you for attempting to practice law without a license!"

"Aw, Scotty, isn't that a bit extreme? Gia here, she's just a, you know—" Sonny shrugged.

"Concerned citizen?" Gia suggested.

"Yeah," Sonny agreed. "Exactly. A concerned citizen."

He sounded like he didn't have a clue why she'd be concerned. Concerned citizens weren't concerned with his welfare. Concerned citizens only concern when it came to Sonny Corinthos concerned his death or lifelong imprisonment. Ah, well, at least he was playing along with her. Even if he didn't know what the hell she was doing it for.

Gia hadn't noticed when Sonny first came in, but he had a cut just about his left eyebrow that was bleeding freely, and there was a bit of discoloration around his eye. Maybe it was the bright lighting, but the way Sonny was squinting made her pretty sure it stung.

The injustice of it stung her, too. "What happened to your head?" she asked. She already knew.

"He fell down," one of the cops answered for Sonny.

Gia shot him a disgusted look. "He fell down in a twenty-by-twenty prison cell, where there are virtually no sharp edges? Do you expect me to buy that?"

"What do _you_ think happened?" Scotty inquired, his wide-eyed expression revealing his lack of interest.

"I think Mr. Corinthos was aided in falling." _You'll take interest in _that_, Baldwin, because Sonny's lawyer can sue your corrupt butt._

Baldwin rolled his eyes. "I may have forgotten to mention that when we arrested Sonny, it was in Elizabeth's hospital room, after Capelli delivered him a restraining order. She was visibly upset. He'd been threatening her."

If Baldwin was trying to get her to waver in her resolve, it was working. She'd been on the receiving end of Sonny's threats once before, and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Where do you get this stuff?" Sonny asked. "You just pull it out of midair? First off, no one from your department 'delivered' me anything. I did not even get the chance to talk to Elizabeth. She started throwing things, and then you walked in."

So Baldwin was just grasping at straws. "Police brutality, violation of civil rights, trumped up charges, harassment…the list goes on. I think when you're finally allowed to contact you're attorney and file these charges, the media _and_ the public will find it highly interesting."

"Yeah, yeah. It'll be good for Baldwin's reelection campaign," Sonny agreed. "Lots of publicity."

"The lawsuit will look great next to his outstanding Zero Convictions record."

"This is blackmail!" Baldwin hissed.

"Blackmail is such a harsh word. Mr. Corinthos and I…we were merely having a conversation. We have no control over what conclusions you draw." Gia put on what she hoped was her most innocent expression.

Grimacing, Baldwin thought about it. "You're free to go, Corinthos." He beckoned an officer. "Uncuff him."

"Wise man," Sonny commented, rubbing his wrists.

"Get out of my sight," Baldwin growled, stalking away.

"Hel-_lo_. It's not a good idea to instigate Baldwin. He just dropped the charges. He could still change his mind."

"Why are you doing this?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't get a 'thank you'?"

"I mean, you know, I'm grateful and everything, but I don't—you don't even know me. We've talked to each other like twice, and one of those times I, uh…"

"You used careful phrasing and let me draw my own conclusion," Gia replied, figuring that was Sonny-speak for having threatened her. Okay, so he hadn't come straight out and said, "You clear my sister's name or you won't like the consequences," but she'd gotten the gist of it.

"Yeah, that. So I, you know, I don't understand why you're doing this."

Gia shrugged. "Thank Zander. He's the one who convinced me to come down here."

Sonny nodded.

"You should do something about your head," she said, wiping some of the blood off his face, and then walking away.

---------------

"See you later, Penny," Courtney called over her shoulder, shoving her green Kelly's apron under the counter and heading toward the door. She bit her lip, seeing Jason looking at her through the window. She went outside to join him.

"Finally, my shift is _over_." Courtney threw her head back in the exhilaration of the moment, placing her hands on Jason's chest.

He gave her that little smile and gently took hold of her wrists. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"Well, I'm going to go visit your sister and Zander, like I promised I would before Bobbie informed me Penny and I would be splitting Elizabeth's shift, and then I'm going to get Rosie. You don't mind if Michael plays fetch with her in your penthouse, do you?" she asked.

Jason's forehead creased in confusion. "No. Why would I?"

Courtney swiped at her off-center part, pushing the long layers off her face. "Well, I just wanted to make sure. If Carly did that without asking Sonny…" Courtney laughed.

"Yeah, Sonny…" Jason thought about it for a moment. "Sonny's like that."

"You mean to say Sonny is a control freak who likes everything just so, and if anything's out of place, as a dog certainly would make things, hell hath no fury like Sonny Corinthos?" Jason didn't exactly smile. She touched the corners of his mouth, lifting them. "Hey, I was just kidding." It felt funny, making fun of Sonny's quirks while he was going out of his mind in a prison cell. It felt even weirder, more wrong, because the more she thought about Sonny's childhood, about Mike walking away, and about what Carly had told her about his first wife, the more she understood why he overreacted so much. It didn't make it right, but still…

Reading her expression like he did her mind and her heart, he asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not."

"I'm just worried about Sonny, you know? What if this doesn't go away?"

"It'll go away."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me."

Courtney did. More than anyone and or anything. She peered hopefully up through her eyelashes. "So, is there any chance you could join us at the penthouse?"

Jason shook his head. "You know, I'd like to, but I need to do something for Sonny."

She nodded, understanding. "Is this something you can tell me about?" she asked. If he couldn't, that was okay. She'd accepted from the beginning that there were some things she just couldn't know.

Jason stepped closer and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear. He dropped his head to speak softly into her ear. "John the Dealer was murdered last night, right after Zander was shot. Zander didn't do it, which means that someone must have been trying to keep him quiet."

"And you need to find out who."

Jason nodded. "I need to speak to a few people. Then I'm going to see what I can do to get Sonny out of there." He stood just looking at her for a minute. "Well, I need to get going, but I'll be home. Tonight. I promise."

"I love you." Courtney kissed him goodbye and watched him walk away, sighing. So many things were wrong and could go even more wrong. Her fiancé was off trying to find a killer and could be killed himself, her brother was locked up and could lose his mind, her once and future sister-in-law's boyfriend was in the hospital and could be permanently paralyzed. Everyone around her was in danger of some kind, and here she was, waiting tables and doing nothing about it.

She had to change that.

She headed for the hospital.

--------------

Barely four steps away from Kelly's, Jason's cell phone rang. Plunging a hand into his jeans pocket to retrieve it, he answered it. "Yeah?"

"They dropped the charges."

"Sonny." That was a surprise. "How'd that happen?"

"Long story. Have you spoken to Zander?"

"Not yet. Nothing to report on the shooter, either."

"How's Carly?"

"She's good. Everyone's good."

"All right, I'm gonna talk to Zander. Let me know if you find anything."

Jason nodded and hung up. Good. One less thing to worry about. He glanced behind him. Courtney was already gone. Too bad. He would have liked to send her away to see Emily and Zander smiling. But that wasn't going to happen. And right now there were other things to take care of.

---------------

Sonny stopped outside the door to Zander's room in the ICU. Through the narrow window, he saw Emily perched next to Zander's bed. He paused to listen. Yeah, eavesdropping was rude, but he didn't want to interrupt any important conversations. And if he happened to overhear something in the process of identifying if the conversation was important, so be it.

He'd never share this line of logic with Carly.

Emily and Zander were laughing about something. He didn't know what it was but it made him smile. Two kids in love, laughing together about whatever. It was cute. And it had to be interrupted. Better by him than the PCPD.

He knocked.

"Come in!" Emily called cheerfully.

He stuck his head in. "This a private party, or can anyone join?"

"Sonny!" Emily exclaimed, jumping up. "What happened to your head?" she inquired, far less happily.

He had a feeling he was going to get a lot of questions about his head. Kind of like the mirror. How many people had walked into the penthouse, one right after the other, asking what had happened to the damn mirror? "Nothing."

"Looks like nothing," Zander agreed sarcastically.

"So how you doing?" Sonny inquired, perching on the edge of the bed, evading the topic.

Zander shrugged. "I'm alive. Can't complain."

Sonny nodded. He knew that feeling well. Maybe a little too well.

"He's scheduled for surgery later," Emily informed him.

That didn't make sense. "I thought he already had surgery."

Emily gave him a shortened version of the story. "Sounds bad, but everything's going to work out," Zander said. "Emily and I, we know the paralysis thing, it's just a remote possibility."

Hadn't they ever heard that saying, _"Everything that can go wrong will go wrong"?_ Hadn't one of the presidents said that? Not that it mattered who had said it. What mattered was the actually saying, and the truth in it. He knew from personal experience that it was true. How carefully had he, Jason, and Roy worked out their plan to convince Alcazar he was dead? And then it turned out Brenda was Alcazar's girlfriend, which thoroughly screwed things up. Not so bad as to wreck the plan, but it just proved the point.

"I'm sorry," he said, unable to think of anything else to say. To agree with Zander, and say that he was sure everything would be fine would be a lie. And he didn't want to give either of them false hope.

"So, I take it Gia got you out?" Emily inquired, returning to her seat and changing the subject.

"Yeah, yeah. That's part of why I'm here. She told me you sent her. I wanted to tell you that I, you know, appreciate it."

"No problem. We all know you didn't push Elizabeth."

Sonny stared at him for a moment. Zander, who didn't even like him, who wouldn't be at all upset if he got locked up for the rest of his life, believed he didn't do it. Ric's words came back to him.

"Don't you ever feel ashamed of yourself for letting all these people around you defend you when you're guilty as sin?"

He wished that all this faith in him was justified. But he'd never know. Not unless he remembered.

"Hey, you okay?" Emily asked, touching his hand.

Sonny shook himself free of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. There's something you need to know. Jason was supposed to tell you, but he, you know, he got tied up. Figuratively," he added, seeing Emily's face. He looked at Zander. "Angry John was murdered right after you got shot. Baldwin thinks you did it. He should be here any second."

"You think I killed him, that's why you're telling me this, isn't it?" Zander's jaw was set angrily.

Did the kid always have to leap to conclusions? For once, just once, could his brain be quicker than his mouth? "No, I'm telling you this because I—"

There was pounding on the door frame. "PCPD! Open up!"

"The door's not even locked," Zander muttered as Emily ran to get it.

"Right on cue," Sonny said dryly as the district attorney walked in with Taggert and another officer.

"Shut up, Corinthos," Baldwin snapped. "Read him his rights."

Taggert stepped forward and began the familiar lines. "Zander Smith, you are under arrest for the murder of John the Dealer. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"

---------------

He walked up to the nurse's station and asked what room he could find Elizabeth Lansing in. The nurse referred him to room 204, and kindly provided directions. He walked down the corridor. A police officer stood outside Elizabeth's room. At first he was surprised, but then he realized that Elizabeth would need a bodyguard to protect her from Adele's son.

He walked over to the man and nodded to him, raising his hand to push open the door.

The officer stopped him. "Excuse me. I don't think you're on the approved visitor list."

"Oh?" he said with an arched eyebrow. "I'm sure Mr. Lansing wouldn't have any objections."

"What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

---------------

Elizabeth paced the room, clad in gray sweats and a black tank top. Where was Ric? She wanted to go home. She needed to get out of this stuffy, sterile hospital room, away from the memory of the lost child she never did and never would know, but loved anyway. It hurt to think about it. She needed to keep moving. It'd make things easier. No matter what happened, life rolled on, and eventually time would take away the pain.

She heard voices outside. Thinking it was Ric speaking to her guard, she headed for the door.

---------------

"I apologize, sir, but you are not allowed entrance."

He sighed. "I would very much like to see Mrs. Lansing, You see, Elizabeth is my daughter-in-law."

----------------

Elizabeth blinked in surprise. "You're Ric's _father_?"

--------------


	9. Chapter Nine

The Fallout

Chapter Nine

"You must be Elizabeth." Trevor took her hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, my dear."

"You too, Mr. Lansing," Elizabeth replied, a bit stunned. When had Ric's father arrived in town? Why was he here? Had Ric called him? She had so many questions she wanted to ask but she kept them to herself for the time being.

"Trevor, please." The man smiled—beamed actually. It was so disarming that it assuaged any reservations she had about the man who had made a woman choose between sons—something Elizabeth herself knew she could never have done. She resisted the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes at the thought of children.

"Ric has told me so much about you," she said, smiling back in spite of herself.

"Mostly good things I hope," the man said with a laugh.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes to the side. "Well…" She tried to think of something nice to say but couldn't come up with anything off the top of her head. She'd gotten mixed signals about Trevor from Ric. Obviously, Ric loved him, and vice versa, but the relationship came with baggage—every time Trevor looked at Ric he'd seen Adele, and that had been very hard on her husband.

Trevor just laughed. "Yes, well, I imagine you're wondering why I am here. Ric called me, you see. He told me about that…that precious young life lost here last night."

Elizabeth bit her lip and ducked her head, hiding her eyes. She'd been trying so hard not to think about the baby—_her _baby.

"Don't cry now, my dear. That child, if only for a short while, brought you joy, did it not? Hold onto that feeling."

He was right; she'd been happier than she'd ever been with that baby growing inside her. But it still made her want to cry.

To escape from the thought of her baby, she turned to her appointed guard. "Why don't you go home, Joshua? I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind having a little extra time with you, and with Ric's father here, you really don't need to stick around."

He frowned. "Mrs. Lansing, your husband gave me very specific instructions—"

Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ears and interrupted. "My husband doesn't want me to go anywhere alone. I'm sure he wouldn't object to me and his father spending a little time together, all right?"

The guard thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"Thank you, Joshua," she said.

"Don't mention it, Mrs. Lansing," the officer replied, and strolled off.

Elizabeth immediately turned back to Trevor, putting her hands together. "Well, Mr. Lan—Trevor…how long are you in town?"

He motioned to chairs lined up outside the door and they both sat down. "Indefinitely," he replied. "I've actually bought a house here."

"Oh?" Elizabeth asked, surprised. Didn't he have a wife? "Are you alone?"

"My wife is not accompanying me, if that is what you're asking. I didn't want to spring such news upon Ric, as he has been dealing with a plethora of his own problems recently, but she has filed for divorce."

Elizabeth blinked. "I'm…sorry."

"Do not be sorry, my dear. It is a wonder it lasted as long as it did. Where is Ric, by the way?"

"Oh, he's down at the police station, making sure all the charges against Sonny get filed properly. He should be back anytime now to take me home." Home. She could hardly wait.

Trevor must have heard that in her voice, because the next thing he said was, "I don't see why you should have to wait any longer, my dear. Your paperwork has been processed and you are free to go, are you not? I am sure you do not want to extend your stay here. I could take you home, and then we could contact Ric."

"Well..." Elizabeth thought about it. "If it's not too much trouble..."

Travor stood, patting her knee. "Not at all, my dear. I'll just bring the car around."

"Okay. I'll tell the nurse I'm leaving, and then I'll be right along."

Trevor walked away and Elizabeth turned around, looking for any hospital employee. All she saw was a ferocious blond coming charging down the corridor towards her.

"You self-righteous twit!"

Know what this was about—knowing it was about Little Miss All Brave and Courageous defending her big brother the baby killer—Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

---------------

Emily couldn't believe this was happening. Zander was still in the hospital, and obviously not going anywhere anytime soon, and the police were barging in to _arrest_ him? For something he hadn't even done? Something he couldn't possibly have done! It was outrageous!

"You can't arrest him!" she exclaimed, jumping up and standing directly in Baldwin's path. Sonny tried to stop her, hands resting lightly on her arms, but she pulled away. She was not going to let this happen. No one was going to keep her from stopping it.

"Get out of my way, or I'll charge you with obstruction of justice!" Baldwin boomed.

"Come on now. She's not obstructing anything. She's just a, you know, concerned citizen." Emily glanced back at Sonny. He was flashing that infamous grin with the dimples. She didn't know what was funny—maybe it was annoying Baldwin—but she suddenly wanted to smile. It, however, wasn't the time or place so she stopped herself.

"There seems to be an awful lot of those running around lately." Baldwin's voice was dry as he glared at them. "Too many!"

"Look," Zander spoke up. "You can't arrest me. I didn't kill anybody."

"What are you suggesting? John the Dealer shot himself?"

Emily bit her lip, knowing this wasn't going to go well. "Please, Zander, don't say anything—"

"Why not?" Zander shot back, his mouth always quicker than his brain. _Oh God, don't let him say anything stupid_. "I got nothing to hide." He looked to Baldwin. "John was all strung out and he threatened me."

"That's enough," Sonny stepped in. She prayed Zander would listen to one of them.

Baldwin drowned him out. "Then you shot him with his own gun?"

Zander shook his head. "No. I went after his gun. It went off. It was an accident."

"Oh, so you were accidentally shot and he tried to make a run for it and you shot him in the back?" Baldwin looked overjoyed.

"Don't say anyth—" Emily began frantically.

"Stop twisting my words around!" Zander snapped, trying to sit up.

The fragments! Emily ran to the bed and pushed him down, trying not to panic and failing miserably. "No, Zander, you can't!"

"Sure, when you can tell me why he ended up on the docks with a bullet in his back!"

Zander was ready to say something, something that Baldwin would once again take and twist to fit his story. Emily didn't know what to do. She couldn't let him say anything. But she didn't know how to stop him. She gave up on trying not to panic. She let the emotion rush through her, accepted it, embraced it. She let all those horrible "what ifs" free themselves from their hiding places in the back of her mind. What if he went to jail? What if she beat her cancer only to have to go on living without Zander by her side? What would she do? How could she stand that?

"You know what, Baldwin? Whatever happened to John, if Zander did it"—Sonny glanced at Emily—"and I'm not saying Zander did it—whatever happened, it was either an accident or self-defense."

Emily's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that path. Of course, Zander hadn't done it, but they could use the fact Zander had been shot to their advantage…

Baldwin shot her hopes down. "His prints are on the gun, he has a record as long as my arm. He's going down for first-degree murder!"

Emily suddenly felt lightheaded. She put a hand to her temple and closed her eyes, placing the other on the bed for support. It was the chemo. Why did the dizziness always have to kick in at the most in inopportune of times? Thankfully, no one seemed to notice.

"Okay, first thing, those prints could easily have been left in the struggle," Sonny said, beginning to tick off his points on his fingers. "Now, when exactly did you say John died?"

Their voices were coming to her, sounding vaguely distorted, echoing in her head. Her vision was beginning to get fuzzy. _I can't faint. Not here. Not now._

"I didn't." Scotty sounded disgusted.

"My sister found Zander right befor—"

Emily swayed. She tried to stay upright but started to fall anyway. She was almost sure she heard someone yell her name, and she was pretty sure someone caught her because the impact was softer than hitting the floor would have been. But she couldn't be certain, as she plunged into darkness.

---------------

Elizabeth was rolling her eyes, dismissing Courtney right away, but she wasn't about to back down, not after what this twit had done. "You know my brother is innocent, and you're lying to the police. Why? What? Do you and your sick husband get some kind of thrill out of accusing Sonny of something he didn't do?"

"He killed my baby!"

The ferocious Lizzie act. Courtney was sick of it. Elizabeth had lost her baby. That was sad, and she was sorry, but it did _not_ excuse what Elizabeth was doing. "He didn't even _touch_ you! And you know it!"

Elizabeth reached up, tucking her hair behind her ears. "You know _nothing_."

Courtney got right in her face. "You know what, Elizabeth? You are _such_ a hypocrite. Here you are lying about how Sonny pushed you down a flight of stairs and how long did you go around whining after you found out Sonny was alive? About how Jason had _lied_ to you, how Jason had _betrayed_ you—"

"He _did_ betray me!" Elizabeth snapped in her vaguely whiny tone, all defensive.

"He was trying to keep Sonny alive!" Courtney snapped back. "But I guess that's an unforgivable sin in your book, right? Making a woman think you raped her, leaving someone else to die in a mineshaft, blackmailing someone to marry you, murder—that's all okay, Elizabeth Webber can forgive that. But heaven forbid someone lie"—Courtney used the word loosely; Jason hadn't lied, never actually saying Sonny was dead—"in order to keep another person safe!"

"Jason let me grieve for Sonny when he wasn't even dead!"

Did Elizabeth have any clue how ridiculous she sounded? Well, of course not. Elizabeth didn't have a clue, period. But here she was, acting like she gave a damn about Sonny while she was perpetrating a lie in order to lock him up. Courtney wanted to scream. "You weren't grieving for Sonny! You were grieving for yourself!"

"You know what, Courtney? I used to like Sonny. Then I realized the _monster_ he truly is."

Courtney would never let Elizabeth know how much those words stung. They were so unfair, and they so well represented people's misconceived notions of Sonny. God, couldn't anyone see that he only did the things he did, behaved the way he behaved, in order to protect himself? He'd been burned more times than any human being should have to endure in a single lifetime. But somehow he'd turned out okay. He was capable of love. And Ric, Ric the rich boy with a father who loved him, who'd gotten an excellent education, who'd lead such an easy life—he was the monster; he didn't feel _anything_ but hate. But Elizabeth was making Sonny out to be the bad guy. It made her furious.

"Let me tell you something, sweetie," Courtney said, stepping closer so her face was only a few inches from Elizabeth's. She wanted to make sure this message got through even the densest skull loud and clear. "My brother is a better man than Ric will _ever _be."

Elizabeth hand flew up, moving in a wide arc, eventually making contact with Courtney's cheek.

Courtney stepped back and actually laughed. Did Elizabeth think that that was going to hurt? It hardly stung! "Come _on_. Is that the best you've got? You really are pathetic!"

"You do _not_ want to mess with me, Courtney," Elizabeth said in a tone that was supposed to be threatening. And it would have been—coming out of someone who weighed more than ninety pounds and broke the five-foot barrier.

"I could snap you like a twig," Courtney said in a very low tone. And she turned and walked away.

----------------

Zander's hospital room turned into a madhouse the second Emily began to sway. Sonny had seen her out of the corner of his eye and managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Then the pandemonium broke out. Zander started yelling her name and asking what was wrong, and Scott said something along the lines of "now look what you've done to your girlfriend" which made Sonny want to punch him in the face. Not that he hadn't wanted to punch him in the face before. And then Monica came charging in, screaming at the cops to get away from her daughter, at Zander to lie back down—Zander didn't listen, no surprise there—and then at the cops again.

"Emily! What's wrong with her? Sonny, what's wrong with her? _Sonny!_" Zander sounded desperate.

How the hell was he supposed to know? What'd he look like, some kind of doctor?

"Lie _down_, Zander!" Monica ordered, storming over and pushing the kid flat.

Zander started yelling his objections, but Scotty started talking real loud at the same time, going on and on about how Zander had caused this and if he hadn't been resisting arrest Emily wouldn't have fainted. Did he _ever_ shut up? Well, he already knew the answer was no. And it was kind of hard resist arrest when you were lying in a hospital bed. Taggert joined in, spinning some kind of bull about everyone needing to remain calm.

The four-way yelling contest was reminiscent of one of those infamous Quartermaine brawls, where everyone talked at the top of their lungs at once, no one listening to anyone else, just enjoying the sounds of their own raised voices. You'd think Sonny was the only one who gave a damn about the girl sprawled unconscious on the floor. He was the only one doing something other than yelling. But that was something else reminiscent of a Quartermaine brawl—they could overlook anything happening around them as the actual shouting match took priority. Insane.

"Hey, Em," he said softly, so as not to attract attention, not that anyone could hear over themselves anyway. He shook her gently. "Emily, wake up." His best friend's little sister began to stir. "Yeah, that's it. Come on."

She groaned and put a hand to her head. Then she opened her eyes, blinking and taking in the mayhem that surrounded her. Not something Sonny personally would have liked to wake up to. "What happened?" she asked, sounded more worried than confused.

"You fainted," Sonny replied, hauling her to her feet and helping her to the chair next to Zander's bed. Monica instantly went to her side and Zander, failing to oblige Monica by staying put, sat up and began bombarding her with questions about whether or not she was okay.

"No, no, no, I'm fine," Emily assured Zander, looking at everyone in turn as she said it. "Really, I just, um…skipped breakfast again, you know. I've been doing that a lot lately." She laughed nervously.

"I'm not surprised, with all the stress your boyfriend's been putting you under lately. Getting shot, killing a guy—" Baldwin began.

"I will not have you harassing my patient or my daughter! Now get out of this room before I throw you out!" Monica ordered through gritted teeth. Scotty just stared at her. _"Out!"_ Monica roared, pointing toward the door.

No one—well, almost no one—messed with Monica when she ordered them out of _her_ house. No one—not even an idiot like Scott Baldwin—was about to mess with her in this hospital room. "I'll be back," he fired over his shoulder.

Yeah, they knew that already.

Emily seemed to notice for the first time that Zander was sitting up. "Zander, what are you—"

"Ah!" he exclaimed, hand going to his abdomen, right about where the fragments would be lodged if Sonny had understood Emily right. The kid never listened. He'd gotten the chance to straighten out his life and be with the only person who could talk sense into him, and he was trashing it by not obeying the doctor's orders. But, then again, the only thing Zander was good at was trashing things.

But look who was talking. Sonny was good at trashing things himself.

"Oh my God, Zander, what's wrong?" Emily asked, jumping up. She was a little unsteady on her feet, and Monica was going back to Zander, so Sonny positioned himself behind her in case she fell again.

"I'm fine," Zander said, but his voice was clipped, tight, forced. No way Emily could overlook the strain in it.

"No, you're not! What's happening? Mom? It's the fragments, isn't it, Mom? Oh my God."

Monica pressed the button to call the nurse's station and began speaking soothingly to her daughter as she checked Zander's vitals. "Emily, just calm down. We don't even know if there's a problem. I need to examine Zander and then I can tell you more. Sonny, could you take her out of the room please?"

Silently obeying, Sonny tried to steer Emily away from Zander, but she wouldn't let him. "No, Mom! You're not telling me something!" The nurses came rushing in.

"Emily, please," her mother pleaded.

Sonny took a hold of her again. "Listen to your mother. There's nothing you can do here, all right? Just let her do her job." Emily stopped fighting him and let him take her out into the hall. Thankfully, Baldwin had departed.

Emily started shaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He's going to die," she said. A few doctors rushed by.

Sonny had never been very good at this, comforting people. He wanted to help, but he didn't know what to do. "The doctors—they know what they're doing."

Emily didn't seem to hear him. "If he doesn't die, he's going to jail."

"He's not—no. Baldwin doesn't have anything. He's—he can't prove anything." The group of medics immerged from the room, pushing Zander along on a gurney, all sorts of tubes and medical contractions sticking out of him.

"Mom?" Emily asked in a very small voice.

Monica gave instructions to one of the doctors, who nodded. She then walked over to them, rubbing Emily's upper arm as she explained that Zander needed emergency surgery—to remove the fragments and stop whatever internal bleeding there was now that the blood vessels were ruptured. It sounded like Monica was trying to downplay the situation for her daughter's sake, but it still sounded bad. Real bad.

Emily went to the gurney, clutching the edge as she looked down at an unconscious Zander. "Is he going to die?" she whispered.

Monica drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "I—I don't want to lie to you Emily. It...it doesn't look good."

Emily nodded, her chin trembling. "I'm here, Zander. I'm here," she said.

Sonny looked at the floor, distinctly uncomfortable. He felt like he was intruding somehow on a private moment between Emily and Zander. But it didn't last long. One of the doctors murmured that they had to leave, and Emily took a step back. They carted him off.

Emily's hands went to her head and she started to sway again. Monica and Sonny each caught one of her arms.

"You need to see a doctor, Emily," Monica said earnestly.

A doctor? Sonny wondered. What for?

"No, Mom, I'm fine. I want to stay here for Zander—"

"Zander is not going anywhere. Please don't argue with me, Em."

Emily sighed and nodded. "I'll go."

Monica offered Sonny a nod of thanks and started to lead her daughter away. Before they got very far, Sonny called after them. "Emily?" They both turned around and looked at him.

"I'm sorry this had to happen."

Emily shook her head, still in shock. "It was an accident. A horrible accident."

Sonny nodded and Monica, an arm around her daughter's shoulders, lead her away.

---------------

Courtney walked down the hallway, a hand to her forehead. Suddenly, she was exhausted. Arguing with Elizabeth took way more energy than it was worth. It was impossible to get through to her. She only saw things one way—her own. And the more you tried to convince her otherwise, the more steadfast she became in her own misguided beliefs.

But, then again, she had Ric constantly whispering nasty things in her ear. That might have something to do with it.

As she approached Zander's room, she glanced up and froze. Was that Sonny, standing alone, looking at the floor? It couldn't be. She was imagining it.

"Sonny?" she said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

The man turned to look at her.

It was really him. Oh my God. Suddenly able to move again, she closed the space between them in nearly a single step and threw her arms around his neck.

"Hey, whoa," he said, probably afraid she'd knock him over, which she almost did.

--------------

Ric was feeling exceptionally pleased with himself. He had a lovely new bride that he was about to take home and finally—_finally—_Sonny was going to pay for what he'd done to their mother, and then to Elizabeth, and countless people in between. He smiled to himself. Everything was going exactly as planned, thanks to his own genius and education. He smiled to himself. He knew becoming a lawyer would pay off.

He rounded a corner, heading toward Elizabeth's room, and then he stopped in his tracks.

He had to be seeing things.

Sonny couldn't be out of jail. They'd never let him out on bail, not with all his foreign properties, monetary assets, connections. Never.

---------------

It happened so fast Courtney barely had time to react. One second, she was hugging Sonny. The next, Ric Lansing came out of nowhere and she was being thrown to the ground.

"I'll break your neck, you sick bastard!" Ric shouted. He was holding Sonny up against the wall.

Courtney scrambled to her feet. "Don't do it, Ric!" she shouted. But even as she did so, Sonny ducked under Ric's arm and Ric was the one pinned against the wall.

"You don't want to do that again," Sonny said very, very quietly. If Courtney were Ric, she would have shuddered. Ric, however, just glared.

Courtney looked around nervously. There was no one in sight. Someone could show up at any time, and Ric, knowing Ric, would claim Sonny had assaulted him, and however Sonny had gotten out of jail, he'd just be sent right back. "Come on, Sonny, let him go."

"That's right, Courtney. Try to talk him down. Beg him not to hurt me. It won't do any good. It never did. Not for my mother."

Sonny pressed harder on Ric's neck.

"Yeah, that's right. She used to beg him not to hurt her, and, guess what, he did it anyway." Sonny was shaking his head. "And you know what the sad thing is? She never stopped loving him. No. And he used it against her. He put her in the hospital once, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, bring charges against her precious firstborn."

Courtney was horrified. How could Ric say those awful things? Sonny would kill Ric. He would. And she wouldn't be able to stop him.

But to her shock, and, judging by his expression, to Ric's, Sonny just continued to shake his head. "I've said it before, I'll say it again. You are a sick individual." With that, Sonny released Ric.

"That's it?" Ric said, sounding completely incredulous.

"You know what, Ric? Why don't you get out of here while you still can?" Courtney suggested with more than a little hostility.

Ric looked at both of them and said, "This is not over." He turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, Ric!" Courtney yelled, grabbing his arm. As he turned to look at her, she punched him right in the face. When she let go, he backed away, moaning. "That's for blackmailing me," she said.

Ric stumbled away.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sonny said, watching his despicable half-brother depart. He was chiding her, but even as he did so, he sounded amused.

"Are you sorry I did?"

Sonny just looked at her for a minute. "That not the—that's not the point."

"No, of course not," she said, and smiled. "So, how are you doing?"

Sonny peered up at her. "What do you mean?"

Courtney rolled her eyes. Was he going to pretend like he didn't know what she was talking about? "You just spent the night in jail."

"Oh," was all Sonny had to say.

"I'm sorry I came down there last night."

"You don't—you don't have to apologize."

"Yeah, I do. You didn't need me barging down there with everything else going on. I mean, you were under enough stress as it was. God, I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you. I mean, wow." She shrugged, not knowing what to say and figuring there wasn't much else she needed to say.

Sonny continued to stare at her, but it was different now. It wasn't blank or confused, it was something else she couldn't place. And it made her very nervous. Suddenly, Carly's words came back to her. _You have to swear you won't tell anybody this. Not a word._ Did that apply to Sonny, too? Was Sonny not supposed to know that she knew? Oh God, what if she'd screwed up.

"Carly told you, didn't she?" Sonny said it very, very quietly, like he had to Ric, except his tone now wasn't threatening, it was plain pissed-off.

Courtney stared at him, knowing full well her blank expression gave away more than words ever could.

"Didn't she?"

"No…" Courtney said slowly, and then she picked up speed. Maybe she thought if she spilled a cover story fast enough, she could outrun this. "I figured it out. I mean, it wasn't really that hard, you know? I mean, I know your stepfather used to lock you in a closet and I kept thinking about how you were pacing and everything. I told you I took this psyche course in college, right? Well, we had this one class on phobias, and we discussed claustrophobia, and we went over the symptoms and—"

Sonny started to shake his head in disgust, and he turned his back to her, walking away.

Oh, God. What if he didn't believe her? He mustn't, if he was walking away. It was a huge mistake bringing up the psyche course, she realized too late. When Alexis had told her he'd been abused, that's what she'd brought up, telling him that was where she'd learned it was perfectly normal for people who were abused as kids to have trust issues. The last thing Sonny wanted was to be psychoanalyzed—by his little sister. Courtney followed him, continuing even though she knew it was a lost cause. "—I remembered that for some reason and I knew that must be the—Sonny. Sonny? Sonny, where are you going?"

He didn't stop for her, and all she could do was go after him.

---------------

Ric jogged down the corridor toward Elizabeth's hospital room, making a mental note to call Baldwin and ask him why the hell Sonny wasn't in lockup. There was no guard outside the door. That worried him immediately. What if…? No, the guard had to be inside talking to Elizabeth. She was so kind, so generous. She'd have felt bad about him standing out there doing nothing for so long. She'd invited him in. That was that. Sonny hadn't gotten to her.

He entered the room, saying, "Honey, I'm back."

But it was empty.

His eyes widened and he stumbled back out the door.

--------------

Jason crouched behind a multitude of crates on the Pier 52 dock, waiting for John's buddy Ryan to arrive. He'd put in an anonymous call to the dealer, who'd assumed he was a new client looking for product. He'd arranged a meeting and now here he was, gun out, prepared to interrogate the kid.

A sound came from behind the crate, and he risked a look out. There he was. Ryan Monroe, John's younger cousin and fellow dealer. Jason spun from behind the crate, pinning the unsuspecting dealer against the wall, gun barrel to the side of his neck. Jason felt no sympathy for the kid as he cringed.

"Oh my God, Jason Morgan!"

The kid stated the obvious. "You deal drugs in Sonny's territory, you die."

Ryan closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, man. It won't happen again. Don't shoot."

"Drug dealers don't live to apologize to Sonny Corinthos," Jason said coldly, untouched by the kid's plea.

Ryan gulped.

"Where are you getting the ecstacy?" Jason demanded.

"I don't know where it's from. If I knew, I'd tell you," Ryan swore.

Jason pulled back the hammer. The click resonated over the pier. "I'm going to ask you again. Where are you getting the ecstacy?"

Ryan swallowed hard. "Miami. The guy's name is Lorenzo Alca—"

A gunshot sounded and Ryan choked. "—zar," he finished. Jason stepped back and he slumped to the ground, dead, blood spurting from his side. Jason looked to the direction from which the gunshot had come.

There stood a Hispanic man holding a gun and the spitting image of Luis Alcazar.

-------------

Sonny hadn't spoken to her the entire time it took to get back to Harborview Towers. She'd made a few attempts at speaking and reasoning to him, but he'd ignored her. She was beginning to get really worried. She'd definitely done the wrong thing.

They stepped off the elevator together, and he headed toward his door. "Please don't do this," Courtney begged, but he didn't listen as he headed toward his door. Sonny let himself in with not so much as a knock. She closed it after them and held her breath, praying he wouldn't put this all on Carly. She'd only been trying to make her understand.

"Carly!" he yelled up the stairs.

Courtney's sister-in-law immerged from the kitchen instead. As soon as he caught sight of Sonny, her entire face lit up. If Courtney hadn't known what was to come, she would have smiled. Carly practically ran over to him. "Sonny!" she said, hugging him.

He didn't hug her back. "You told her."

Carly stepped back, looking confused. "Told who what?"

"You told Courtney."

Realization dawned over Carly's face, and she looked at Courtney, her deer-in-headlights expression saying more than words ever could. "I—she went to see you, Sonny, and she knew something was wrong. I was just trying to make her underst—"

"She's not supposed to know this garbage!" Sonny fumed, throwing up his hands and heading over to the table by he fireplace. He poured himself a drink.

"And why not, Sonny?" Courtney demanded hotly. "Because I'm too naive to handle it? Because it's not pretty?"

"It's not supposed to touch you!"

Fully prepared to yell something back at him, Courtney stopped when she caught sight of Michael coming out of the kitchen. "Daddy," he asked, "why are you and Aunt Courtney fighting?"

Sonny glanced at Courtney. "We're not—we're not fighting. We're, you know, having a—we're having a discussion." Sonny flashed Courtney a grin. She rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress a smile. Discussion. Yeah. One way to put it.

Michael made a confused face. "But you're mad at her."

"No, I'm not—I'm not mad at her." It was almost laughable how unconvincing Sonny sounded. Yeah, he was mad at her, all right.

Michael's expression remained set on CONFUSED. "But you're yelling."

"I, you know—"

Courtney decided to step in and save Sonny. She squatted down to the boy's level, tucking her hair behind her right ear. "Your daddy and I, we're brother and sister, and brothers and sisters don't always get along. Sometimes we argue and we say mean things, but we don't mean them. Right, Sonny?"

"That's right," Sonny agreed, looking at the floor instead of her. Typical Sonny.

"So you and Aunt Courtney really love each other?" Michael asked, arching both his eyebrows.

Courtney met Sonny's gaze and quickly looked away, laughing nervously. "I bet you're going to have plenty of disagreements with your little brother or sister when it gets here," she said, hastily changing the subject.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," Courtney said. "How about you come over to me and Jason's? Mrs. DeRosa is going to bring Rosie over for us to play," she suggested. They were going to do this anyway, but she wanted to give Carly and Sonny some time alone as soon as possible so they could "discuss" this.

"Yeah!" Michael exclaimed. None of them could help smiling at his youthful enthusiasm.

"All right, let's go!" Courtney said with equal enthusiasm. She held the door for Michael. She looked back at Sonny and said, "Carly was just trying to help."

He nodded. "I know," he said very quietly.

With one last glance at Carly, she closed the door.

Carly turned to Sonny. "I'm sorry, Sonny. She knew something was wrong, and I thought she deserved the truth. But that—that wasn't my call to make. I shouldn't have told her. I'm sorry."

He didn't want hear fifty thousand apologies. He just wanted to hold his wife. "I don't wanna talk about this, you know? It doesn't matter. Come here."

Carly came over and he took her in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. He breathed in the smell of her shampoo.

"I missed you," Carly said, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Yeah, I missed you, too."

---------------


	10. Chapter Ten

The Fallout

Chapter Ten

Emily walked out of the doctor's office and sat down on one of the couches in the waiting area. The doctor had told her she was just about as fine as a young woman who was suffering through breast cancer and chemotherapy could be, but she needed to get more rest and reduce the stress level in her life. Emily had laughed at that statement. Her boyfriend was in surgery, facing paralysis or worse, and she was supposed to just sit back and relax. Sure. That was going to happen.

She closed her eyes for a moment, blocking out the bright lights that made her head hurt so. Oh, how she wished she and Zander could return to those days when they were on the run, before her cancer, before he was shot. Back when all they had to worry about was where they were going and how they were going to get there.

But those times were over. Duty and unforeseen events had kept calling them back to Port Charles. She guessed she should be grateful that that same sense of duty and the unforeseen events had also brought them back together after over a year apart.

"Emily."

Her mother's voice brought her out of her thoughts and Emily looked up at her, afraid the next thing she would hear would be the worst. "How's Zander?"

Monica sat down across from her. "Well, we got all the fragments out."

Emily let out a relieved sigh. "So he's okay?"

"He pulled through just fine, but the splinter we're most concerned about was already starting to hemorrhage, which would have compromised the anterior spinal artery."

"Okay..." Emily said slowly. "What does that mean?"

"It means the next forty-eight hours are crucial for Zander, but everything when very well. There was very little internal bleeding, and what there was we mended just fine. The injury is no longer life-threatening."

All her worries just drained away, and Emily put her hands over her face, hardly able to believe it. "Can I see him?"

"When I left him, he was just starting to wake up, and, yes, I think he'd love to see you."

--------------

Trevor took the keys from her, inserted one into the lock, and held the door open for her like a true gentleman. She smiled gratefully and stepped inside.

"So this is where my son has been residing the past few months?" Trevor said conversationally, taking in the living room that Elizabeth had helped Ric decorate.

Elizabeth put her hands together, forming a finger-pyramid as she did so. "Actually, when he first came to town, he lived above Kelly's. That's the local restaurant where I work, in case you didn't know. That's how I met him. But he's been here the last couple months."

Trevor walked over to the fireplace, looking at the picture of Martha's Vineyard that hung over it. "This is the family cottage," he said, sounding somewhat surprised but nevertheless happy to see Ric had a painting of it in his home.

Elizabeth smiled. "Ric told me about it."

Trevor glanced back at her. "We used to go there every summer. Ric, my wife, and I..."

Elizabeth's eyes fell on the tiny teddy bear perched on the edge of the mantle and as much as she wanted to know about Martha's Vineyard and the summers of her husband's childhood, she couldn't focus on her father-in-law's voice. Some invisible force drew her to the teddy bear and she slowly reached out to it, touching its tiny face. Images of Ric tucking the bear into their contended baby's arms as she held it ran through her mind. Images of things that would never happen. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Somewhere along the line, Trevor must have realized she wasn't listening and looked at her, for he asked her what was wrong.

Elizabeth picked up the teddy bear, smiling sadly down at it with fond memories of the day before in her head. "Baby's first toy," she said, echoing her words from a morning so long ago...Trevor inclined his head, understanding, and she continued speaking, more to herself than to him. "Ric gave it to me. He said it was to mark the very first day for us—the three of us—as a family."

Trevor put his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "I'm terribly sorry, my dear."

She sniffed. "I don't know what I was thinking, going to Sonny and arguing with him. I should've known he wouldn't listen. I just made him angry. I feel like I let Ric down."

Trevor lead her to the couch. "I'm sure Ric doesn't see things that way."

No, of course Ric didn't. He loved her too much. But she couldn't help feeling like this was her fault. She began to look around the room, taking in the apartment that would have been their baby's home. Would have been the place they raised their family.

"Perhaps you and Ric should move in with me."

Elizabeth met Trevor's gaze again, startled by his suggestion.

"Hear me out. Obviously, this place reminds you of your child, and everywhere you look, you can't help thinking of that blessed little soul that will never be. Besides, there is plenty of room and the house is _dreadfully_ empty."

He was right; just being in the apartment brought back all the memories of plans she and Ric had made that would never become reality. She'd love to get away, but... "That is _such_ a generous offer, and I really do appreciate it, but I couldn't impose on you like that..."

Suddenly, the door slammed open. Elizabeth whirled around to see her husband standing in the doorway, panting and looking incredibly relieved. "Elizabeth! Thank God you're here." Seeing her company, Ric did a little recoil motion. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Your father took me home from the hospital," Elizabeth answered for Trevor, wide-eyed and confused. "What happened?"

Gulping for air, Ric began to explain. "I don't know how it happened—I have to call Baldwin," he interrupted himself, seeing the phone on the coffee table. "I haven't had the chance."

"But what happened?"

"Something went wrong. I don't know what, but Sonny's out of prison."

No wonder he was so upset. "Oh no," she whispered with much emotion.

"He was at the hospital, and you weren't there. I thought he'd gotten to you."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, no, sweetie. I'm fine. I didn't even see Sonny. Your dad offered to take me home, and I accepted. I meant to call you as soon as we got in, but..." She trailed off. She didn't want to tell him she'd been flooded by memories and fantasies of "what could have been."

"Which brings us back to my original question: Dad, what _are_ you doing here?"

---------------

The man who looked exactly like the one who had caused Jason and Brenda so much grief postmortem stepped forward and looked down at Ryan, who lay, wide-eyed, bleeding, and very much dead, at his feet.

"It is unfortunate you chose to betray my identity to Corinthos. I would have revealed myself to him, eventually, or not," the Alcazar-look-alike said to dead Ryan, shaking his head as if pitying the kid's stupidity.

"Who are you?" Jason demanded, refusing to lower his gun a millimeter even though this man's own man had his weapon trained on him.

The man tucked his hands into his pockets and offered a humorless smile. "Lorenzo Alcazar. Luis was my brother. This is my man, Javier."

That explained a lot. If it was true. Jason held the gun steady. "I never heard about any brother."

"I wanted it that way. Luis was the front man in our partnership. He handled the contracts, negotiated the deals. I was in charge of the more physical elements—production, delivery. I understand you and your boss, Mr. Corinthos, have a similar division of labor."

Jason offered no comment.

Seeing he wasn't going to get a response, Alcazar said, "It can be very efficient. Sadly, my brother ruined himself over his obsession with your ex-wife, Brenda. Kind of cliché—brother brought down by his love for a woman. Literally a flaw. So now Luis is gone and I'm in charge." There was no emotion in Alcazar's voice or expression throughout this speech.

"You killed John Monroe." It was a statement, not a question.

"You're not much for conversation—" Alcazar began, but Jason immediately cut him off.

"What do you want?"

Alcazar offered that same, humorless smile. "To expand my business, of course."

Of course. "Drugs."

"Among other ventures," Alcazar agreed.

They heard footsteps from the other end of the pier. Jason turned his head to look a fraction of a second after Javier. Voice drifted to them.

"Where are they, Mac?" they heard the district attorney, the idiot Baldwin, say, sounding annoyed.

"I got an anonymous tip that a drug transaction was going down. They'll be here. Let's search the pier," Mac's voice came through the fog, sounding closer.

Despite their differences when it came to business ethics, neither Jason nor Alcazar wanted to be found standing above a dead Ryan with their guns drawn. They wordlessly dispersed. Javier and Alcazar took off up the closest set of stairs and Jason headed for the alley, clicking on the safety and tucking his gun into the waistband of his jeans as he went.

---------------

"Hey," Emily greeted Zander with a smile, entwining her fingers in his.

Sounding a little sleepy and looking a little out of it, Zander said, "Hey. I need to know how it went. Monica said I could be paralyzed."

Emily reached out and lovingly pushed a lock of hair of his forehead. "Let's not talk about that right now. All that matters is you pulled through the surgery, and you're going to _live._"

"No, I need to know."

"Okay, I'll go get my mom," Emily said, beginning to get up.

"No," Zander said, taking hold of her wrist. "Just put your hand on my leg. I want to see if I can feel it."

Emily looked down. Her hand was resting on his leg. And he couldn't feel it.

---------------

Ric was stunned, but not in a completely unpleasant way, to see his father. Trevor stood up, and Elizabeth rose with him.

"You didn't get my messages?" Trevor inquired.

Ric shook his head. He'd spent the night at the hospital with Elizabeth and had been preoccupied with Sonny in the morning. "I haven't had time to check them."

"I suppose it is better this way. I get to tell you the news in person, which is always a much better manner of discovering things. I've moved to Port Charles."

Ric wasn't sure if he'd heard right. "You've what?"

"I purchased a house this morning."

Frowning, Ric began to ask, "But what about—"

Reading his mind, his father said, "Things between your stepmother and I weren't working out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ric said sincerely. He and his stepmother hadn't gotten along well—to be completely honest, she'd hated his guts, he being the product of her husband's affair—but his father had always genuinely cared about her. And Ric, in turn, genuinely cared about his father.

"You know what? I'm going to go take a shower and give you guys a minute alone," Elizabeth said, beginning to walk away.

"Oh, no, you don't need to do that," Ric began to say, but then he caught sight of the tiny teddy bear, which still dangled from Elizabeth's hand. He remembered giving it her, and how happy she had been. And how all it had taken was one event to change that.

Elizabeth looked down, seeing what he saw. "Maybe I—I should put that away," Ric suggested.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, let's leave it out."

"Look, sweetheart, I don't really think we're ready to deal with what happened." Ric certainly wasn't.

"Ric, we can't pretend like nothing happened. We lost our _baby_."

Because of Sonny, Ric thought, white-hot rage boiling up in him. Trevor cleared his throat and Ric looked at him again, trying to push aside thoughts of his brother. "Elizabeth and I were just discussing—it's obvious being here brings back immensely painful memories for the both of you. I had just suggested to Elizabeth that you could come live with me for awhile."

"And I had just told your father that we wouldn't want to impose," Elizabeth said with a smile, which was just like her. Thoughtful, generous, always thinking of others.

Ric agreed with her. "Elizabeth's right."

"I thought you'd say that," Trevor said. He glanced at his watch. "Well, I should get going. It's getting late, and I'm sure you two wish for some solitude. It was a pleasure to meet you, my dear," he addressed Elizabeth, taking her hand in his warmly.

"You, too," she replied.

Ric was glad. His father and Elizabeth had hit it off. If he'd had time to think about it, he would have worried Elizabeth would have reservations about Trevor after hearing how he'd made Adele choose between him and Sonny. She wouldn't understand how absolutely justified Trevor was, not having seen what Trevor had seen—the dangerous psychopath Sonny would become, the dangerous psychopath Sonny was already revealing himself to be at age six. "I'll walk you out," Ric said, and gave Elizabeth a kiss on the cheek, telling her he'd be right back.

"I'm going to take that shower," she replied, smiling that beautiful smile and heading toward the bathroom.

Ric and Trevor stepped out into the hall.

"I would suggest you attempt to convince Elizabeth that moving in with me is a good idea."

Ric frowned. "I'm not sure I understand..."

"Sonny," Trevor said simply.

"I don't follow."

"You will, once I show you the place," Trevor replied. "We could go now."

Fascinated—as anything that had to do with the destruction of Sonny was fascinating—Ric opened the door again and called to his bride, "Elizabeth?"

"Yeah?" she shouted back.

"I'm going out for a few minutes, don't worry about me!"

"Okay!"

He closed the door again. "Let's go."

---------------

Carly squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm not looking!"

"You're peeking, I know you're peeking," Sonny teased her. It sounded like he was coming out of the kitchen, but she couldn't tell, because she, curled up on the couch, wasn't looking.

To satisfy him of that fact, she covered her eyes with her hands. "I am _not_ looking."

"Yeah?" Sonny said. He was much closer now. Standing over her probably.

Did he always have to torment her? He knew she couldn't stand waiting! "What's the surprise already?" she demanded.

He didn't answer. She could just picture him and those dimples and the thought of him laughing at her, knowing this was torture to her, drove her crazy.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she demanded.

She felt Sonny sit down next to her. "You can open your eyes now."

She took her hands away and popped them open. All she saw was Sonny holding a glass of milk. A glass that he pressed into her hand.

"Eight ounces. Drink up."

Her jaw dropped. "You are _so_ unfair!" she said when she was able to think. Telling her there was a surprise, and then giving her a _glass of milk_! How dare he!

"It's good for the baby," Sonny told her, flashing those infuriating dimples just like she knew he had been the entire time he was making her wait for a surprise that wasn't even worthy of being called a surprise!

Okay, she had to admit that it was awfully sweet of him...but it still wasn't a worthy surprise! "Here, you drink it," she said, putting it back in his hand and crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

Then Sonny did what he always did when he was trying to get her to do something she didn't want to do. He leaned over and started talking to her stomach. "Hey, you know last time we had this little talk about your mommy? How brave and strong and fearless she is and how she'll protect you no matter what? Well, she's going to choke down this milk for you, and we know it's going to be hard for her, right? But she's going to do it because she loves you and she knows its good for you."

Rolling her eyes and making a resigned face, Carly took the glass of milk and took a big sip. "I only did that to make your daddy happy because it's a good idea to keep your daddy happy. Are you happy?" she addressed Sonny.

"I'm happy. I'll be ecstatic when you finish the rest of that."

Carly gave him a look that said, "don't push your luck." "And when exactly are _you_ going to eat something?"

"I'm not pregnant," Sonny retorted.

She gave him another look. "No, you're not." Disappointing, too. Then she could force-feed him like he did her and make him sleep and he wouldn't be able to drink, either. She put the milk down on the coffee table. She would finish it, eventually, but she wanted to talk first. She reached over and ran her had through Sonny's hair. "Are you okay?" she asked, serious now.

"I'm fine."

He was not fine. "Was it bad?"

Sonny shrugged. "You know what it's like. You've seen me."

She ran a finger over the cut on his forehead. "Does this hurt?"

"Yeah, a little," Sonny replied, smirking.

It probably did hurt, but that's not why he'd said that, and she knew it, and he knew she knew it. If he hadn't had an ulterior motive, he wouldn't have admitted to it hurting. "Oh, yeah? I bet I can make it better," she said, leaning over.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling as she kissed it. "Does that feel better?"

"Oh, yeah."

"I bet your mouth hurts, too, doesn't it?" she said dipped her head and kissed him. "You like that?"

"I like that," Sonny replied.

That's when Jason came in. Figured. If it wasn't the phone it was someone at the damn door. But Jason in person beat a phone call from Ric Lansing. In fact, Jason in person beat any guy in person but Sonny. But at the moment, it didn't look like he was the bearer of good news.

"Alcazar is responsible for the drugs and the car bomb."

Sonny and Carly both looked at him as if he were crazy. "Alca—what? Alcazar is dead."

"Not Luis. He had a brother. Lorenzo. He's the one coming after you."

---------------

The panic room door slid open. Awed, Ric stepped forward, taking everything in with hungry eyes.

Trevor came up behind him. "What do you think?"

Ric smiled. "I think this will work perfectly."

---------------

Sonny had gotten up to talk to Jason, leaving a disgruntled Carly on the couch. They spoke in very low tones so she wouldn't overhear.

"What's with Alcazar? Is this, like, is it personal? Business? What?"

"He wants to run his drugs through your territory."

Sonny shook his head. Drugs were off-limits. "Not gonna happen."

"I know," Jason replied. "What do you want to do about him?"

"I—" Sonny glanced over his shoulder at Carly. He didn't want to discuss too much in front of her. Judging by the way she was examining her nails just a little too closely, she could probably hear every word. "We need to get more information on him, you know what I'm saying?"

Jason nodded. "I'll put a guy on it right away. Do you want me to call Roy?"

One of the great things about Jason. He always knew what he was thinking. "Yeah, yeah. See what kind of reputation he has down in Miami."

Jason nodded again. "All right, I'll see you both tomorrow..." He smiled at Carly.

She looked up from her fingernails. "Who, me? I wasn't listening!"

"Hmm," Jason hummed knowingly and headed out the door.

Sonny sat down next to her again. "You were listening," he said, but not in an accusing way.

"You were standing right there! How was I not supposed to listen? Huh?" Sonny just smiled—Carly was a born eavesdropper. She'd been better lately because she knew he needed to be able to trust her to butt out when he asked her to, but she was just as proficient at it as ever. Carly locked her arms around him and cuddled against him. "I'm glad you're home."

"It's over now, you know?" Sonny said it even though he knew it wasn't true. Ric wasn't through with them, and this thing with Elizabeth, not being able to remember, that was going to stick with him a long time. Baggage. You carry it around long enough, you almost get used to living with it.

"I know you still think you pushed Elizabeth. You didn't. You didn't. I know you didn't, because I've seen your heart."

Carly believed in him. And that meant a lot. It was almost scary how certain she was. He prayed to God she was right. It was like with Zander and Emily—he wanted this faith people were putting in him to be justified. Especially Carly's faith. Hers most of all. The last thing he wanted to do was let her down. "Can we not—can we not talk about this right now?"

"Okay," Carly agreed, and snuggled against him again. Suddenly, she sat up. "I have something to show you," she said.

Uh-oh. He knew that look in her eye. The little sparkle, representing mischief that was all coming from a good place in her heart. He hoped she hadn't cooked up a crazy scheme because as much as he loved hearing about them, they never worked. "Is this something—"

Carly picked up something off the coffee table and hid it from his view. "Don't look at me like that! It's something good. It has to do with..." She trailed off, probably trying to build suspense, her entire face glowing. "...Jason and Courtney's wedding."

"Oh, Jason and Courtney's wedding," Sonny repeated. "They're having a wedding?" It was a joke for two reasons: one, the only thing Carly had wanted to talk about since she'd found out was the wedding. Two, he wasn't sure it could be justifiably called Jason and Courtney's wedding. It seemed to him Carly was making all the decisions. It was more like it was Carly's wedding, except Courtney was the bride.

Carly swatted at him. "I found the perfect dress for Courtney! Here, look!"

"No, no, no," Sonny said, holding her wrist so she wouldn't turn the paper over. He loved her for her enthusiasm, he really did. He loved her. He wasn't trying to convince himself of that fact, or trying to answer how he put up with such a trying woman, he really did. "You're not—you're not picking out my sister's dress."

Carly sat back. "Why not?" she sounded defensive and maybe a little hurt.

Sonny sighed. "This is Courtney's wedding, you know?"

"I know."

"Yeah, well, don't you think—don't you think she wants to _maybe_ pick out her own dress?"

"Right, right, right, this coming from the man who picked out _both_ my wedding dresses without even consulting me?"

Why did little facts from the past like that one always come back to haunt him? "Yeah, well, you liked them, didn't you?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "Okay, Courtney gets to pick out her own dress. But I'm still showing this picture to her. And she'll agree with me. Don't you want to see it? What your sister is going to be wearing at her wedding to your best friend?"

Sonny shook his head. "No, no, no, no, _no_, Carly. I don't want to see it. I just want—I want my sister to be happy on her wedding day, all right. That's all I want."

"You're not even a little, tiny bit curious?" Carly goaded him.

Okay, yeah, he was curious. But he didn't want to fuel Carly's case of this being the perfect dress. "No."

Carly out the picture facedown on the coffee table and pouted. "You're no fun."

"Oh, I'm not?" he asked, pulling her closer.

"No," Carly said. She was grinning.

"I'm not? You think you might, you know, let me change your mind?" he asked, kissing her.

"Hmm."

---------------

"You know what, you need to sleep," Emily said, smiling even as tears threatened to form and spill from her eyes. He was paralyzed after all. "You need your rest. We'll deal with all of this tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. I am a little tired," Zander conceded.

"Yeah," Emily said. "Sleep."

"I love you, Emily," he said sleepily.

"I love you, too."

---------------

After making his phone calls in the hall, Jason crossed to his penthouse and paused at the door. He could hear Michael and Courtney's laughter and Rosie's barking. It made him smile. He stood there a moment, just listening and soaking up the pure joy coming from inside and then he opened the door.

Michael was throwing a ball for Rosie to catch. "Go get it! Good girl! Now bring it back, bring it back. Good girl!" Courtney praised her dog. Her entire face was glowing. She was great with Michael. The little boy looked happy for the first time since the car bomb. When they were ready for a family, she'd be a great mother.

"Hey, look, it's Uncle Jason!" Michael exclaimed.

"Hey, buddy," Jason said, smiling down at him. He bent down to ruffle Rosie's golden fur.

"Can I give her a dog cookie, Aunt Courtney?" Michael asked, a six-year-old well of enthusiasm.

Courtney stood up. "Yeah, they're in the kitchen. And if you look in the cookie jar, you just might find the type of cookies made for little boys."

"Really? Come on, Rosie!" Michael and Rosie bounded into the kitchen.

Shaking his head and smiling, Jason gave his fiancé a kiss hello. "You having fun?" he asked.

Courtney laughed. "Yes, I am. Michael's such a great kid."

"Yes, he is."

Courtney wrapped her arms around him. "You know, you never took me for that bike ride you promised." She beamed up at him.

"Would you like to go later?"

"Would you like to take me?" Courtney replied, knowing his answer.

"Yes," Jason replied simply.

"Everything's perfect. You and Sonny are both home, safe, we're getting married in a few weeks...things couldn't be more perfect."

"Well, they could," Jason said. If Ric was dead and Alcazar was taken care of.

Courtney merely laughed and kissed him. He was inclined to agree with her; things couldn't get much better than they were this moment.

"_Yuck_," came a voice from the direction of the kitchen.

Laughing, Courtney and Jason both turned to see Michael standing there with his chocolate chip cookie. "Come here, you," Courtney said, "And bring Rosie with you!"

---------------

Ric was waiting for Elizabeth when she immerged from the bathroom in his robe, her hair dripping wet. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied, sitting next to him.

"I'd like to talk to you about something." Ric said, looking down and rubbing her fingers.

"Okay..." Elizabeth said slowly. "You make it sound so serious."

Ric nodded. "It is. Look, I'd like you to reconsider my father's offer for us to move in with him." Elizabeth opened her mouth, probably to object, but he put a finger to her lips. "Just hear me out. Look, we need to get out of this apartment as soon as possible and put all the bad memories behind us and start our life together."

"We just lost our baby, Ric. How are we supposed to do that?"

"I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not suggesting we forget our baby. I don't think its a good ideal to dwell on what could have been either." He desperately hoped Elizabeth would agree with him.

"You have a point..." she conceded. "But it's not right to impose on your father."

Ric shifted positions and looked her straight in the eye. "That's just the thing. We won't be imposing on my father. I think he's lonely. He was married for thirty odd years. He's not used to being alone, and he doesn't like it. I'm not saying this has to be a permanent arrangement. I'm just asking for you to give it a few weeks, until we find our own place. What do you say?"

"Well..." Elizabeth thought about it and smiled. "When do we move in?"

Ric grinned. She'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. "That's my girl." And he kissed her. Tonight they would pack, tomorrow they would move in, and tomorrow afternoon and evening the plan would be set into action...

---------------


	11. Chapter Eleven

**The Fallout **

Chapter Eleven

It was awfully early, but Emily was wide awake anyway. She hadn't slept at all. She had tried. She had tried so hard. But she just couldn't do it, knowing how much she and Zander's lives and life together were going to change as soon as her mom walked through that door and made the horrible news official. She felt so helpless. There was nothing she could do to change this. She couldn't fight for Zander like she could fight her cancer.

She closed her eyes at the thought her cancer. She'd sworn to herself and to a sleeping Zander the night he had been shot that she would tell him, and yet she was still keeping the secret from him. How was she supposed to lay that news over the news he was paralyzed?

She saw Zander stir and blink awake from her post at the window. She walked over and sat next to him, forcing a smile.

"Morning, beautiful," he murmured.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? I hate this bed. I hate this hospital, and I hate this brace I have to wear." Zander smiled as he said it.

"Yeah, I know, but it's only for a little while. You know, when you get out of here, we're going to take that trip to Mexico."

"Oh yeah?" Zander asked.

"Yeah. Or go on a road trip up to Canada. You and I will be the only two people in the world."

"It sounds great, Emily." His expression suddenly changed.

She sat up straighter and pulled the chair closer to his bed. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs, Emily."

He sounded so scared, so shocked that it brought tears to her eyes.

---------------

As the morning sun came through the window and played across her bed, Courtney sat up, stretched, and yawned. Once she was sufficiently awake, she looked to the other side of the bed and was somewhat disappointed to note that Jason was already up. She permitted herself a few seconds to pout. Him being up already took away her excuse to stay in bed a bit later. Never one to put off getting up and facing a new day and everything it could bring, she threw back the covers and went to get dressed.

---------------

Sorting his way through coffee invoices, Jason sat on the couch, the paperwork laid out on the coffee table, his lap, and the cushion beside him. On his other side, Rosie was curled up, tongue lolling out. When he heard footsteps on the stairs, he glanced up and smiled. Courtney came down, dressed in dark blue jeans and a light green shirt that would keep out the late spring chill, her golden hair pulled back into a casual ponytail. Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that this beautiful angel was a part of his life.

Rosie jumped down and bounded over to her. Courtney knelt in front of her dog, ruffling her fur and saying what a good girl she was. Smiling, Jason cleared off a place next to him and invited Courtney to come sit.

She declined with a shake of her head and a dazzling smile. "I have to take Rosie back to Mrs. Lerosa's before my shift starts, but I'm going to go over to Sonny's and Carly's to see if Michael wants to say goodbye first. Will you be here when I get back?"

Jason nodded. "I have to go out later, but I have to do this stuff first, so, yeah."

"Okay." Courtney smiled again and exited their penthouse. Rosie barked a few times before resigning herself to the fact her mistress was gone and returning the couch.

--------------

Courtney crossed over to PH4 and smiled at Johnny, who kindly opened the door for her and knocked afterwards. Kind of like Sonny, except most of the time Sonny didn't even bother with the knocking part. After saying thanks, she stepped inside and Johnny closed the door behind her.

No one was in sight, so she called out, "Hello? Anyone home?"

Sonny came out of the kitchen. "Hey."

"Hey. Michael home?"

"He's at Bobbie's." Sonny replied. "Why?"

"I have to take Rosie to Mrs. Lerosa in a few hours, and I thought he'd like to—" Courtney felt a sudden wave of nausea and stopped speaking, putting a hand on her stomach and closing her eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just feel a little sick, that's all."

Sonny took her wrists and guided her to the couch. "Come here. Sit down." She obeyed. "You think you're coming down with something?"

She didn't feel sick. She just felt nauseous. She tried to think of a way to describe it. "You know that feeling you get when you haven't eaten anything and you feel like throwing up?"

Sonny poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "You want something to eat? I can make you something."

"No. I don't think I can hold anything down." She took a sip of the water. Sitting down helped. It made her feel a little better. "I'll be fine in a second." She put her glass down.

"You sure you're not sick?" Sonny touched her forehead. "You don't feel warm."

Courtney smiled, hands clasped between her knees. "Sonny, you're hovering."

"Hey," Carly said from the top of the stairs, charging on down them like a power walker, pumping her arms. She stopped two stairs from the bottom and addressed Courtney. "What's wrong? You're white as a sheet."

"I just feel a little sick, that's all," she told her sister-in-law.

"What? Do you think you're coming down with something?"

Sonny and Carly had definitely been living together for too long. They asked the exact same questions. She wondered if and when that would start happening to her and Jason, and whether or not anyone else would notice. She described how she was feeling to Carly, who finished coming down the stairs.

"You don't have a fever? Anything else?"

Courtney shook her head.

Carly's face broke into a grin. "I know what's wrong with you. You're pregnant."

--------------

"Maybe the anesthetic hasn't worn off—" Emily began, hoping against hope, and knowing she was hoping for nothing.

"Grab my leg," Zander said suddenly. "Grab my leg, see if I can feel it."

"No, Zander. It's—it's too soon to tell, wait for my mom—"

"I'm paralyzed!" Zander shouted. "Do you get that, Emily? I'm paralyzed!"

--------------

"I'm _not_ pregnant, Carly," Courtney said.

"She's not pregnant," Sonny echoed, in the same tone she had used, the one that made it sound like just because she had said it made it true.

Carly gave him a look. "And how would _you_ know?"

"If Courtney says she's not pregnant, she's not pregnant."

Carly rolled her eyes and brushed him off, turning back to Courtney. "Are you late?"

Courtney looked at Carly, and then at Sonny, who was walking away, shaking his head, thank God for small favors (she did _not_ want to discuss this in front of her brother), and then back at Carly.

Carly lit up like a Christmas tree. "You are, aren't you?"

Courtney felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Now that Carly mentioned it...yes, she was a few days late...maybe a couple weeks, actually...yes, it had been a couple weeks. But that didn't necessarily mean she was pregnant...but what if she was?

Her expression must have been screaming "help me!" about as loud as it was "dumbfounded!" because Sonny came back from whatever corner of the room he'd retreated to in order to save her from his overly enthusiastic wife. "Carly, Carly, Carly. Just—give her some room to breathe."

"This is perfect! Have you told Jason?"

"How could she have told Jason when she didn't even know—when she doesn't even know—why would she tell him when she's not pregnant!"

Carly ignored her husband's outburst. "When are you going to tell him?" she asked, her eyes positively glowing.

Feeling better, Courtney stood up. "You know what? I have somewhere I just remember I need to be," she offered lamely. "I'll see you guys later, okay?" she said brightly.

"When are you going to tell him? I want to see his face when you tell him the big news. Oh, this is perfect. My two best friends, getting married, having a baby...let go of me, Sonny!"

Shaking her head and trying not laugh, she exited her brother's penthouse. Sonny sure had his hands full. Johnny was trying very hard not to look amused but she could tell he was. "I guess you heard most of that," she said.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Riiiight," Courtney said slowly. The bodyguards, to be seen but not heard, to hear but not speak of what they heard. At least not to certain people. Johnny must have overheard a good dozen—make that five dozen—conversations. "Do me a favor, and don't tell Jason about that, okay?"

"About what?"

Courtney smiled. "Thank you, Johnny." She saw his little smirk before she walked away. Carly was absolutely, positively crazy. This was why they all loved her. Entering PH2, she saw Jason was still occupied by all those coffee invoices.

"Carly just said the strangest thing."

Jason looked up. "Carly says a lot of strange things."

"She thinks I'm pregnant." Courtney rolled her eyes in a how-ridiculous-is-that kind of way.

"Are you?"

---------------

"You knew, didn't you? Last night. Why didn't you tell me?" Zander demanded.

Emily wanted to cry but she knew she had to be strong. Zander needed her to be right now, and she needed to be for herself. "We both knew this could happen when you went into surgery."

"But you knew! You let me believe everything was okay when you knew!"

"Mom said the paralysis could be temporary, you know? It might not be permanent," Emily said quickly, grasping at straws.

"I want to know what the doctors said."

Emily swallowed hard. "I didn't find out from the doctors," she whispered. "Nothing's official yet."

"I want to talk to the doctor, and then you can go."

Emily looked up at him, startled. His jaw was set. She didn't know what he was talking about. _Then she could go?_ What did that mean? "What?"

"I don't want you here!" he shouted.

---------------

"I got it, I got it."

Laden with duffle bags, suitcases, and other such luggage, Elizabeth and Ric teetered toward the door. Ric managed to free one hand and cut in front of Elizabeth to open the door for her. She smiled at her true gentleman of a husband.

"Shouldn't we knock first? Ring the bell, something?" Elizabeth suggested. Trevor Lansing deserved some common courtesy as well. After all, he _was_ letting them move in with him, which was _really_ generous.

Ric shook his head. "You heard what dad said. This is going to be our home, too, and we should feel free to come and go as we please. After you."

Smiling at him, she stepped over the threshold into her new home. Taking a few more steps into the living room so Ric could also get through the doorway, she slowly lowered the bags she was carrying, taking in her surroundings as she did.

The carpet was soft and tan, the walls bare of any paintings—she could fix that if it was okay with Trevor—and also a yellowish color. The furniture was arranged in a conversational manner, and bookcases filled with old-looking, leather-bound books lined the wall by the wide fireplace. It was very nice. Homey.

Ric came up behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and speaking into her ear. "What do you think?"

Elizabeth felt a smile tugging at her mouth. "I like it." It felt like home and they'd just gotten there.

"I like it, too. I have a good feeling about this place."

"Oh, yeah? Like what."

"Like we can finally find the happiness that we deserve," Ric replied, kissing the back of her neck.

"I feel it, too."

Ric bent down and picked up some of the bags. "Well, then, we better start unpacking."

Elizabeth picked up her own luggage and trailed her husband toward the back of the house and the stairs.

---------------

Trevor Lansing watched from inside the panic room. He heard every word that passed between Elizabeth and Ric. He even shouted both their names. Neither heard. Neither had any idea he was there, watching them. He smiled as they exited the living room and then pressed the button on the remote. The panel of wall slid open. He stepped outside and then pressed the button again, watching as the door slid silently closed. This would work perfectly.

---------------

"Sonny, I'm going across the hall!" Carly yelled in the direction of the kitchen, where her husband had retreated after Courtney had left. She already had her hand on the doorknob, and she turned it as quickly as she could, hoping to escape before he could ask any questions.

No such luck. She was halfway out the door when Sonny emerged. "You're not going to go bug my sister."

"Of course not," Carly said, hoping she sounded offended. She fiddled with the brown paper bag she had hidden behind her back.

"I didn't think so."

"I'm not!"

"Uh-huh."

"God, you're infuriating." She slammed the door and headed across the hall, leaving an amused Johnny just standing there. Like usual.

--------------

Courtney sank down onto the spot Jason had cleared for her earlier. "No, of course I'm not pregnant. I mean, I don't think I am."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

Before she could say anymore, she heard a knock on the door. Letting out a long breath, she went to get it.

Carly stood at the door, holding out a small brown paper bag, the kind they gave you at pharmacies. "I brought you a present. Here. Take it."

"What's this?" Courtney asked.

"It's a home pregnancy test. Just to make it official!" She was speaking in an excited whisper so Jason wouldn't hear.

"Carly..."

"I forgot I had it. Come on over as soon as it turns out positive!" Carly said gleefully, giving her a quick hug and leaving.

Shaking her head, Courtney closed the door.

"What's in there?" Jason indicated the crumpled brown paper bag.

"It's Carly. Ugh. She brought me over a home pregnancy test." She opened the bag and took out the box as she spoke. Then she rolled her eyes, seeing Jason's expression. Carly was just being ridiculous. There was no way she was pregnant. "Yeah, I know."

"Are you going to take it?"

Courtney looked down at the small rectangular package in her hand. "I don't know. I guess, yeah. I mean, there's no harm in seeing what it says, right?"

Jason shrugged.

Taking that as an endorsement, she stood, taking Jason's hand as she did so. He followed her up the stairs.

---------------

Sonny had flipping through some papers on his desk. He glanced up as Carly came back in. She wrapped the strap of her pocketbook around her purse and threw it on the desk chair. She was grinning from ear to ear.

What has she done now? Sonny wondered, and that's exactly what he asked. "What'd you do?"

"I delivered a home pregnancy test to Courtney." Carly rubbed her hands together, that mischievous grin still firmly in place.

Sonny could hardly believe his hearing. They'd gone over this with Carly. Courtney wasn't pregnant. If she was pregnant, she would know. And even if she was, that was Courtney's business. "You—ugh, Carly, you don't know when to let things go."

"Lucky for you, too," Carly shot back, heading to the couch. She picked up the wedding-dress picture he continued to refuse to look at, and examined it. "Good thing she's not very far along. She won't need to get this dress adjusted."

Sonny rolled his eyes and prepared himself for a very long, very trying afternoon with his wife.

---------------

"I'll be down in a second, honey!" Elizabeth shouted from upstairs.

"Okay!" Ric, in the living room, called back. He then focused on his father. "How did it work?"

"Did you hear me?" Trevor inquired.

Ric shook his head. "Did you call me?"

"You and Elizabeth both. I could hear every word you said, see everything you did, and you couldn't hear me."

Ric smiled, envisioning what it would be like, being locked in the panic room. No one could hear you, no one who cared knew you were there. You could see and hear everything; you would know what was going on in the outside world. You would see your family being torn apart, looking for you, desperate to find you, falling apart without you there. Willing to do anything, give anything to find you. You'd be helpless to do anything about it. And meanwhile your family was tortured, knowing you were out there, somewhere, just out of reach...

Revenge was sweet, and for the recipient, payback was a bitch.

--------------

Courtney paced the bathroom located off to the side of the master bedroom, repeatedly checking her watch. The package had told her to wait five minutes. She still had two minutes to go.

She didn't know why she was so nervous. She loved Jason, and he loved her. They both wanted a family, children, They were getting married in a little more than a week. Sonny finally had given them his approval. It wasn't even a bad time to be pregnant—Ric no longer had any power over them, and Sonny and Jason knew who was responsible for the car bomb and drug setup. Alcazar would be taken care of and things would be normal soon. They'd have peace. Her being pregnant wouldn't change any of that.

So she guessed it wasn't the baby she was nervous about after all. She knew she wanted to be a mother, and, after seeing the way Jason was with Michael, she knew he would be an excellent father. Having a child was the singular most amazing thing in the world. It was a chance to get things right.

But that was exactly what she was afraid of. What if she didn't get things right? What if history repeated itself? What if her child woke up one day to discover its daddy wasn't there anymore, just like she had? Sure, her dad hadn't really been dead, but her mother had told her so and for eight long years she'd believed it. It had hurt. Jason's job was dangerous. She could lose him at any time. Being with him was well worth the risk of losing him, and she tried not to think about the terrible things that could befall him. But she'd have to if she had a child, because it wasn't about just her anymore. She could not leave her child fatherless.

She sat down on the toilet and ran her hands through her hair. Exhaling slowly, she checked her watch. It was time.

She picked up the plastic wand, which she had placed face down on the edge of the sink earlier, and then the box it had come in. "One blue line, you're not pregnant. Two blue lines, you're pregnant," she murmured, and put the box down. Closing her eyes, taking a deep breath, and working up her courage, she turned the device over. She opened her eyes.

Two blue lines.

"God, I'm pregnant," she whispered, staring. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She was frozen in what could be the biggest moment of her life.

"Courtney!" Jason called from the bedroom, where he was waiting for her.

Putting the test down, Courtney rose unsteadily to her feet. She was still in shock. They were going to have a baby.

She walked to the bathroom door and turned the knob, slowly entering the bedroom.

"Courtney?" Jason asked, coming over to her and gripping both of her shoulders. She looked at the floor.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered. She rose her eyes to his and they stared at each other for a long time. The full impact of the words finally hit Courtney. Telling the news to Jason took all the uncertainties away. She felt a grin creeping across her face. "We're going to have a baby!" she said, beginning to cry and laugh at the same time. Jason drew her into his arms and hugged her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. She held him a tight as she could. She was pregnant. They were going to be parents.

It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

---------------

"You know what I'm going to have Dr. Meadows do?" Carly asked, arms locked around Sonny's neck.

"What?" he asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"I'm going to have her write a note and sign it, stating its not going to kill me if I eat something other than broccoli."

"Ah," Sonny said. That was great. No note from the doctor was going to keep him from making the stuff for her, or making her eat it. Carly's usual diet of frozen pizza and God-knew-what-else was not appropriate for the child she was carrying inside her.

"And you know what else I'm going to do while I'm there?"

He couldn't imagine. "Mmm?"

She pulled away, grinning. "I'm going to make an appointment for Courtney."

Oh, man. He had thought she'd let the pregnancy concept go once she'd gotten started on the wedding, which she'd bugged him about all afternoon. "Carly, what the—what are you thinking? You don't even know if Courtney's pregnant."

"Yes, I do. She is!" Carly said, heading toward the door.

"And what if she's not?" he asked her retreating back.

"Goodbye, Sonny!" she threw over her shoulder.

Utterly exasperating.

---------------

Greg stepped from behind the corner as soon as Carly boarded the elevator. Johnny was on his rounds. He would not witness her departure. Things were going quite smoothly. Greg went over to the door of PH4.

Soon the elevator rose again, and Johnny stepped out. "Greg," Johnny acknowledged the younger man with a nod. He went to the door, about to turn the handle and open it, admitting Greg to see the boss, but he stopped him.

"The boss left with Mrs. Corinthos. I discussed business with Mr. Morgan instead."

Johnny nodded, dropping his hand.

Perfect. Greg pressed the CALL button for the elevator and stepped into it. He had to depart quickly. Mr. Lansing had mentioned the timing was meticulous.

--------------

They were cuddled up on the couch, Courtney's head resting on his chest, fingers intertwined. Jason couldn't stop thinking about how those two small words—"I'm pregnant"—could change so much. Somehow he'd never thought this would happen to him, that the life he lead would allow this. First Courtney, now a baby. It was amazing.

"I can't believe we're having a baby," he said, shaking his head slowly.

"I know," Courtney sounded just as stunned, and just as happy.

Jason knew that this event changed everything. It was one thing for Courtney to be at risk by being with him. She could defend herself, could make her own decisions, and she was already a target, being Sonny's sister. But a baby...babies were defenseless. They needed adults, parents, to look out for them, for what was best for them. If he and Courtney had a baby, he was going to have to stop working for Sonny. He could not be arrested or put himself in the line of fire with a child. Sonny and Courtney had both been left behind. He was not going to subject his child to that—a pain that never really went away.

"Carly will be thrilled," Courtney said with a laugh.

Jason smirked. There was no doubt about that. Just the fact that she was right would make Carly happy. "Yeah, she will."

"How do you think Sonny's going to react?" she asked a little more somberly.

"Well...he'll be surprised."

Courtney snorted. "Yeah. That's the understatement of the year."

"He'll be happy for us," Jason added.

She pulled away and looked him in the eye, still a little worried. He couldn't blame her. Sonny hadn't had the best of reactions when he'd found out he and Courtney were together, but he'd gotten over it, accepted it. The same thing would happen here, except it'd be quicker this time, because he wasn't going through what he'd been going through last time. He wouldn't see this as something that it wasn't.

"You think so?" she asked.

Jason nodded. "Yeah."

Courtney settled back against him, playing with his fingers. "I think so, too."

"You know, after this baby is born, I can't work for Sonny anymore." That made Courtney sit right back up. "This baby needs a father. I won't let it get left behind. I've seen what that does to people. It happened to Sonny. It happened to you."

Courtney nodded, understanding, and she looked grateful. "When are you going to tell him this?"

"Tonight. When we tell them you're pregnant."

The sat in comfortable silence for a long minute. Finally, Courtney stood. "Well, I should get going. My shift started five minutes ago."

He rose with her. "I need to do something for Sonny, so I might not be here when you get back."

"Be careful."

"Always." He kissed her goodbye.

---------------

Realizing what Zander was trying to do, Emily's eyes widened. He was trying to do exactly what she had been doing ever since she came home. "Zander, I won't let you push me away!"

"I am not going to drag you through this!"

"That's my choice! Not yours!"

"Tell me, Emily, what kind of life are you going to have with me, huh? A guy who can't walk, can hardly take care of himself."

She shook her head rapidly. She had wasted _so_ much time pushing Zander away, and she wasn't going to let him do the same right when she'd realized how wrong she'd been all along. "I won't let you do this!"

"Why not?"

"Because I have breast cancer!" she blurted.

---------------

The Lansings had made their fortune from ownership of a string of coal mines that thrived until the mid-twentieth century, up until the point machinery took away the jobs from men. Then they invested their money in the stock market, where they were quite successful. The Lansing family was quite rich. Money had never been an object. Being rich could be quite useful. Money could buy so many things, be used for so many things. And the Lansings knew how to use it. Blackmail, bribery...they could afford it.

The call came on Ric's cell phone. Greg confirming he had held up his end of the deal.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Trevor asked, referring to the other man involved, not Greg.

Ric nodded. "I've employed him before. He'll do anything for a price, so long as no one dies."

"What about the other?"

"His current position does not pay as well as we do. It took some convincing, but greed won out in the end."

"What are the chances that they'll betray us?"

"It's worth the risk."

They were in agreement on that.

Ric checked his watch. In a few short minutes, phase two of their plan would be enacted.

----------------

Courtney walked as quickly as she possibly could without breaking into a jog. She hated being late when she and Penny was splitting Elizabeth's shift with her and doing her own as well.

She had almost made it to the door when the two man came out of nowhere, grabbing her from behind. She followed her first instinct and fought back, elbowing a guy in the gut and kicking out at the other. One of them recovered enough to get a sweet-smelling cloth over her mouth and nose. She continued to struggle but the fight began to drain out of her.

Then everything went black.

---------------


	12. Chapter Twelve

The Fallout

Chapter Twelve

Emily hadn't thought Zander could get any paler but whatever color that had been left in his face drained away upon her admission. She clamped her hands over her mouth. She could not believe she had just said that. She had been planning on telling him, but not like this. Not in the middle of an argument over him pushing her away. She had wanted to break it to him as gently as possible. Oh God, why had she done that?

Well, she knew why she'd done it. She'd done it because she knew she could use her own experiences, her own decisions—and how wrong they were—to show Zander why they couldn't push each other away anymore.

"Wh-wha-what?" Zander stammered, his eyes huge, completely and totally stunned.

Emily put her face in her hands and took deep, soothing breaths, trying to gather her thoughts. This was so _hard_. "You know how I kept pushing you away? And how you kept saying there was more going on? Well, there was. Those drugs you found—they weren't what you thought they were. They were an experimental treatment. I'm not—I wasn't—I never had a relapse. I just let you believe I did."

Zander's eyes searched hers wildly. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to protect you. Because I love you. I didn't—I didn't want you to watch me die."

---------------

Penny walked around the counter, placing her basin of dirty dishes in the sink. She glanced at the door, noting the gathering darkness outside, and then the clock on the wall. Courtney was very late and getting later by the second. She couldn't recall Courtney ever being this late. A few minutes maybe, no more than ten, and usually it did not bother her. Elizabeth was the one who was irritated by Courtney's lateness, not Penny.

Even now, after forty-five minutes of extra work, Penny was not annoyed. She was worried. Courtney was responsible. She would have called if she was going to be this late. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

Making up her mind, she got Bobbie's address book from under the counter and began flipping through to the M section. Courtney's name was the first listed.

Courtney had done a lot of moving since she had started working at Kelly's. Two addresses and numbers had been crossed out—first the apartment she had shared with her wacko ex-husband AJ, and then the loft. Courtney's number was now the same as her fiance Jason Morgan's. Penny smiled. She had long ago met her man; in fact, she was supposed to be meeting him for a special dinner at the Port Charles Grill right now. She was glad Courtney had finally found someone worthy of her.

She picked up the phone and tapped in the number.

---------------

Jason answered on the first ring, plucking the phone off the coffee table and never removing his gaze from the paperwork laid out in front of him. "Yeah?"

"Hi, Jason. It's Penny from Kelly's."

Jason frowned. Penny. Why would Penny be calling him? She only called when Courtney was around, and Courtney wasn't.

"I was just wondering if Courtney was with you?"

"She's not there?" Jason sat up straighter.

"No. She hasn't shown up for her shift yet, and that's not like her. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"I'll find her."

"Thank you, and please have her call me when you do."

"I will."

Jason hung up before Penny and sat with the phone in his hand. Something was definitely wrong. Courtney would never not show up at work without calling. Something had happened. He could feel it. He went to the closet to get his gun from the lockbox on the top shelf. Once it was safely tucked into the waistband of his jeans, he grabbed his leather jacket and shrugged into it to cover up the gun's presence. He didn't have a permit to carried concealed. He wasn't going to risk the idiot Baldwin arresting him over it while he was out looking for Courtney. She might need him. He wasn't going to let her down.

The phone rang again just as he reached for the doorknob.

---------------

Ric stepped into the panic room after his father, clicking the remote. The panel slid smoothly closed behind him.

"Everything's in order," Trevor said, watching the monitors carefully. Elizabeth stowed some luggage in the closet and then headed out of the room to get more. They could hear the muffled rustlings as she put things away. Video, audio...everything was functioning perfectly.

Ric took a seat at the foot of the bed, reached out, touched Elizabeth petite form rushing around on the monitor. "Soon we'll have our revenge for what he took from us," he said to his wife.

"It is well past time for your brother to pay," Trevor said quietly, watching Elizabeth just as attentively as his son. He should have dealt with Sonny long ago. Instead, he'd waited. Waited for Ric to grow up, then left Ric to deal with the problem. If he had not waited, Ric and innocent Elizabeth would not have been hurt. But he had waited. And that was his mistake. But the past did not mattered. What mattered was that he was here now, and he would be able to see Adele's son's demise firsthand, not live it vicariously through his son.

---------------

Elizabeth had been making trips up and down the stairs to stow their now empty luggage bags and suitcases in the downstairs closet. She had just set down the final load and was getting ready to heft them onto a high shelf when the phone rang.

"Ric?" she called in the direction of the stairs. "Trevor?"

Frowning when she got no response, she went to answer the phone herself. "Hello?"

"Hi, Elizabeth. It's Penny."

"Oh, Penny. Hi." Elizabeth tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder and shoved the bags in place. She'd called Bobbie earlier and left a message on her answering machining, giving her the new address and phone number. Bobbie must have relayed the information to Penny.

"I'm so sorry about your baby," Penny offered sympathetically.

Elizabeth smiled sadly. The word must have gotten out to her co-workers that she had been pregnant and lost the child. "Thanks."

"I know it's awfully soon, and I totally understand if you don't feel up to it, but Courtney hasn't shown up for her shift—"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Courtney had been having trouble showing up on time ever since she first moved into the loft with Jason. "What else is new?"

Penny overlooked her dig. "—and I was supposed to meet Mark twenty minutes ago."

That's right. Penny and her boyfriend had been together for three years now. This was their anniversary. How could Courtney be late on such an important day? Well, there was an easy answer to that question. Courtney never thought about anyone but herself. "Have you tried calling Courtney?"

"I'm really worried about her. I spoke to Jason, and he thought she was here. Then he said something about 'finding her.'"

Little Miss All Brave and Courageous had gotten herself in trouble. Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to care.

"I feel really bad asking you to do this, but—"

"No, don't worry about it. I know this is a special day for you. I'll be right over." Elizabeth paused. "I think it'll be good—to get back to work," she admitted. While they were packing and unpacking, she hadn't thought about the baby. But as soon as she stopped moving, thoughts of what it might have looked like, whether it was a boy or a girl, which parent would it resemble most closely in personality invaded her mind. Only painting and working could keep those pointless thoughts away.

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Penny sounded so relieved and grateful that it made Elizabeth smile.

"I'll see you soon." She hung up and returned the phone to the cradle.

"Ric!" she shouted. She got no answer. Frowning, she stuck he head out the front door. "Ric?" Still no answer. Where had her husband disappeared to? She headed out back to holler up the stairs. Maybe he couldn't hear her from up there.

--------------

As soon as Elizabeth rounded the corner, Ric hit the button and he and Trevor raced out of the room. The panel had hardly closed when Elizabeth reemerged. She took a step back, startled.

"Hey, where have you guys been? I looked all over for you."

"I'm sorry. We went out in the woods. It's this weird thing my dad and I share—we're both fascinated by trees. New York has some of the best," Ric lied swiftly, wondering at the same time why the panic room had been connected to the living room. It would have made more sense to have it down in the cellar, but he was just a lawyer. He didn't design houses. Maybe he should change careers.

Elizabeth looked at them strangely. "That's...interesting?" Ric could tell she was really trying, but she just couldn't come off sounding convincing.

Trevor laughed easily. "I know. It is in fact quite dull, my dear, as my wife has so often told me. I do not understand what it is that interests me about them so much, but it does appear the gene has been passed on to my son."

"Well, that's good. You have something in common," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Besides, I like art museums, and not everyone finds _those_ interesting." She looked up at Ric. "Ric, honey, Penny just called. Courtney hasn't shown up for her shift. Yeah, I know, big surprise. I'm going to have to go in to work."

"You should be staying at home, resting." Ric didn't want to come across as too agreeable. He didn't want her to suspect anything.

"You heard Dr. Meadows. There's no reason to stay in bed. Besides, I think it'll feel better to be doing something. When I stop moving it's too easy to dwell on what could have been and what didn't happen. I just want to keep busy, okay?"

Ric made it look like he was thinking about it. Finally, he let out a dramatic sigh. This was just what he wanted. "All right, but don't overtax yourself."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and gave his cheek a pinch. "I'll be _fine_. It's not like I've never worked a shift before, okay?"

"Okay." He kissed her swiftly.

"I'll see you later," she said, grabbing her purse from the coffee table, smiling over her shoulder as she left. "Bye, Trevor."

"Farewell, my dear."

As soon as the door closed, Ric and Trevor pulled gloves from their pockets, checking to make sure their guns were properly loaded.

"Let's go," Ric said, and the both headed for the door. They final stage of their plan was about to be enacted.

---------------

A male voice came across the line, muffled and distorted by a mechanical device, making it impossible to identify the caller. "We have your girlfriend."

"Who is this? Hello?" Jason said very calmly, his voice perfectly even. His mind raced. Someone had Courtney. Courtney was in danger. Courtney was pregnant, so the baby was also in danger.

"Abandoned Warehouse, Pier 52, ten minutes, alone. If you ever want to see her alive again."

"Who is this?" Jason repeated in the same dead tone, revealing none of his emotions, but the line went dead. He stood there holding the phone for a long moment, contemplating his next move. It had to be Alcazar. He was the only one who had motive. He'd want to trade Courtney in exchange for Sonny to allow drugs through he secure transport system.

Jason headed across the hall. He had to see how Sonny wanted to handle this. Drugs were off-limits, but they had to get Courtney back. They couldn't risk leaving her with Alcazar, especially not with her pregnant. They did not know Alcazar motivations. There was no telling what he would do to Courtney.

"Sonny here?" he asked.

Johnny shook his head. "He left with Mrs. Corinthos."

Jason blew out a breath. Damn. He was going to have to go after Courtney without consulting Sonny. There was no one else he could trust on this; Courtney was his sister, he wouldn't do anything to endanger her. Jason had promised to protect her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her either.

-------------

Her head hurt.

That was the first thing Courtney was aware of when she regained consciousness. God, she hadn't know chloroform could give such killer headaches. She kept her shut closed for a long moment, feeling the light burning her eyes even with them closed.

She opened them with a start. What effect would chloroform have on the baby? Wasn't it a chemical? Wasn't it dangerous? What had she been thinking, walking to work without a bodyguard?

Just as she had expected, the room was lit brightly from overhead. She looked around, taking in the assortment of crates and cement floor and walls. It looked like a warehouse, but one that hadn't been used for anything for awhile. She took in every detail. She had to escape.

As far as she could tell, she was alone. She couldn't see behind her, being bound tightly to a chair. There was no gag keeping her from screaming. These kidnappers were either dumb, knew no one could hear her, or had abandoned her. She decided to take the chance.

"Help! Somebody help! I've been kidnapped! Help!"

---------------

Lorenzo Alcazar stared out at the water as small waves lapped the docks of Port Charles. Javier was only a few feet behind him, talking into a cell phone. They were awaiting the arrival of a shipment, disguised as a ferry. To use one of their usual barges was insanity, not to mention suicide. Corinthos had men monitoring the docks. If they so much as suspected the cargo onboard one of him ships, then his boat would be sunk, quite literally, along with his millions worth of product.

Fog billowed around him. It was a good night for this. Corinthos's lookouts would not be able to see that the ferry he was using was not one of the ones that chugged between Port Charles and Spoon Island.

The first time he heard it, it sounded very far away. He frowned and listened closer. Was it possible the steady wind was carrying voices from Spoon Island? No, sound could not carry that far.

It came more clearly now that he was listening for it. Someone was calling for help.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Javier softly.

His man nodded slowly. "I think it's coming from over there."

He pointed toward a building a few doors down. The windows were open and a soft light leaked through. The calls continued.

"See that the shipment lands," he ordered Javier, and headed for the alley. Something called him to this building.

---------------

He loved her. More than anything. He knew what had to be done. Any other time, he would have stood beside her, held her hand all the way through this, been her rock, her anchor, as she'd always been for him. But not now. Not when he could not stand, walk, run, even crawl. He had to let her go. She was going through enough as it was. The last thing she needed was a paralyzed boyfriend whom she had to look after, take care of. What she needed was to focus on was her own recovery. She needed to put all her energy into getting well, not helping him to adjust to his newly rocked world. Maybe when she was well again, maybe then they could be together. God knew his feelings for her would never change, that this connection between them would never go away. But here and now, they weren't meant to be.

He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't see any other way. He couldn't calmly explain why she had to leave him. Then she'd never let go.

God, I'm sorry, Em, he thought. "How could you do this!" he shouted at her.

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "I was trying to protect you. I didn't want you to watch me d—"

"So you made up my mind for me? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

-------------

Sonny played with the food on his plate, poking at it with the fork. Finally, he gave up, putting the piece of silverware down. He wasn't hungry. If he wasn't alone, if Michael and Carly were at the table, he might eat something just so they wouldn't have any excuse not to eat their vegetables. But they weren't.

He wondered if Michael was having fun. He loved visiting Bobbie. Whenever he got home, he could go on for hours about what he and Grandma had done. The change of scenery was good for Michael. It'd take his mind off the car explosion a little. Michael felt safe with Bobbie, and he was. Nothing would happen to him when he was with her.

Maybe he should have gone with Carly. She'd driven him crazy all day long, but he was secretly grateful for that. It'd kept him from thinking. There was nothing to do here alone but think. He was tired of thinking. It always came back to the same thing, the same event, the same person. Elizabeth. So far he'd avoided talking about it with Carly, but it wasn't so easy to evade himself. He'd either done it or he hadn't, and it was like his mind was split in two, each side warring with the other, screaming at the other, trying to convince the other that what it said was true. But neither side ever came out on top, succeeding in convincing all of him of what had really gone down.

He closed his eyes and rubbed them roughly with one hand. If he didn't find the answer soon, the truth, it was going to drive him crazy.

The phone rang. For once he was grateful for the interruption. He stood up and went to get it, leaning against the desk and putting it between his ear and shoulder so he could cross his arms. "Yeah?"

"I want to end this once and for all."

It was Ric.

"I want the truth," Ric continued.

"I want that, too," Sonny said very quietly.

"Meet me at Rice Plaza in ten minutes."

Rice Plaza? The place where Elizabeth had fallen, been pushed, slipped? Why Rice Plaza? Ric hang up. Sonny did the same.

-------------

Ric pressed the END button on his cell phone and glanced back at his father.

"Now we wait," Trevor said, adjusting his gloves.

--------------

Sonny sighed. He didn't want to do this. He'd had enough of Ric. He wasn't convinced that Ric had extended this invitation for the reason he'd made it sound like he had. Ric was working an agenda, like always. But Ric had a big mouth. He probably just wanted to see Sonny to run it off. Ric had made a mistake by calling him right after Elizabeth's miscarriage. You did not warn your enemy when and what your next move was going to be. Ric was stupid. It was worth the inconvenience if he let something slip about his next move.

This was no reason not to exercise caution, however. Sonny picked his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the right-hand drawer of his desk. He pulled it open and stared down at his gun. He picked it up, turned it over, thinking back on the first time he'd ever held a gun. He'd been surprised at how something so small could be so heavy. Now he liked the weight. This gun was different from the first one he'd held. This one was unregistered, had no numbers on it, no way to trace it back to him. He checked the magazine. Fully loaded. He slid it back and tucked the gun into the inside pocket of his jacket. You never knew; he might need it sooner rather than later.

He headed out the door. The click resonated throughout the hall as he closed it behind him.

Johnny took a step back. "Mr. Corinthos." Sonny was vaguely aware of his surprised tone, but he was preoccupied. Whatever Johnny was surprised about, he could ask him later.

"Jason around?"

The bodyguard shook his head. "Left about fifteen minutes ago. I thought you—"

Sonny cut him off. "I don't have time for this right now. Let's go."

Johnny knew better than to ask him where to.

---------------

"I don't what you're—"

"Don't give me that! You know exactly what I'm talking about! I can't trust you, Em."

"No..."

"You've destroyed our trust. Every time I look at you, I'm going to see this lie."

Emily was shaking her head, her eyes wide in shock and disbelief. It killed him to see her like this, but he couldn't let on.

"I will not _be_ with someone I can't trust."

"Zander, I'm so sorry—"

"I don't wanna hear it!" he screamed. "Get out." He looked away.

She continued shaking her head, that same heartbreaking expression on her face. "You don't mean that. You can't mean that."

He refused to look at her. "I want you _gone_."

Emily sat there, her chin trembling as tears streamed down her beautiful face. She abruptly jumped up and ran—not walked—out of the room, away from him, sobs bursting from her throat as she went. She left the door open in her rush to get away.

Zander closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that this was for the best.

--------------

Carly practically flew off the elevator. She noted Johnny wasn't at his usual place but didn't think much of it, getting out her key and unlocking the door.

"Sonny!" she called. "I made that appointment for Courtney!" She laughed to herself. She _loved_ driving him crazy. She threw her pocketbook in the chair and went over to the table. She picked up an uneaten piece of meat and chewed on it thoughtfully. She shrugged with her mouth. Not bad. Didn't hold a candle to frozen pizza. "I see you finally ate something!" she added.

She got no answer.

Frowning, she stuck her head in the kitchen. "Sonny?" Seeing he wasn't there, she went over the stairs and chugged on up them. "Sonny?" Once she'd assured herself he wasn't upstairs, she came back, pausing halfway down. Her husband wasn't home. The question was, where had he gone and when would he be back?

--------------

It was a short walk. He drew his gun out before strolling into the building. With her back to him, a young woman with long blond hair streaming down her back was tied to a chair.

"Hello," he said, walking over, keeping an eye out.

"Thank God! Help me. I've been kidnapped."

Lorenzo walked around and saw the woman's face. She met his gaze and recoiled. He smiled. Courtney Matthews, Morgan's girlfriend, Corinthos's sister. If he hadn't had his men take photos, he would never have known they were related. Biology was such a tricky thing. He preferred history.

"Ms. Matthews, is it? A pleasure to meet you."

---------------

Jason raced into the warehouse, arms stiff, gun out in front of him. He did a quick visual search of the room. No Courtney. There was a wooden chair in the middle of the warehouse. Ropes still dangled from the arms. He checked the end of one of them. Cut. He looked at the cement floor. No scuff marks. No signs of struggle. No sign of Courtney.

He raced out of the warehouse.

--------------

Ric stood with his back to the pillar. He risked a peak around the corner when he heard footsteps below. His leather-gloved fingers tightened around the butt of his semiautomatic when he realized their error.

His brother wasn't alone.

Damn. How could they have forgotten to count the bodyguard variable into the equation? They thought they'd covered all their bases—they'd considered everything, worked out all the details meticulously. They'd made sure Carly had an appointment and that Michael was away, which therefore ensured Leticia would not be around, which meant there would be no one for Sonny to tell where he had gone. They'd had Coleman and a buddy kidnap Courtney, but only after they'd made sure Penny had a previous engagement. Then she would not be tempted to take on Courtney's shift herself. Elizabeth had to pick up the slack, keeping her far from the house. And the Courtney kidnapping combined with Greg's lying to Johnny—whose rounds they had observed carefully to make sure he would not see Carly leave alone—had served yet another purpose: preventing Jason from accompanying Sonny. Jason had gone after Courtney himself, just as planned because a mistaken Johnny had told him Sonny had left with Carly.

And then, once he was sure everything else had gone smoothly, Ric had called Sonny, positive that his brother, with no other options, would have no choice but to show up alone without telling anyone where he had gone.

Except he wasn't alone. He'd taken Johnny. Ric couldn't believe their stupidity. They'd hinged the plan partly on Johnny, so why hadn't it occurred to them he might be a problem?

Ric risked a glance at his father, who stood the same way behind the pillar across from him. Trevor's forehead was creased in a frown, and his gloved hand was as tight around his gun as Ric's. He could tell his father was thinking.

--------------

This was a problem. They could not have any witnesses, and they could not handle another person besides Sonny. Ric had told Trevor that Adele's son was one hell of a fighter.

That left them only one other option. With his free hand, he pointed to himself and then formed a gun with his thumb and index finger. He made as if to shoot. _Click, boom_, he thought. Ric tilted his head back a bit, letting Trevor knew he understood.

---------------

It'd be better if no one had to die, but they could not risk a witness. Johnny had to die.

---------------

"Don't look like anybody's here," Sonny said, more to himself than to Johnny, looking around the plaza from the top of the stairs. The closest building was dark, no light coming through the glass doors. No one stood, gazing at the stars, watching the water, the harbor, checking out the eyesore known more commonly as the Quartermaine Crane.

He hadn't felt good about this from the start. But that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach just kept growing even though it appeared that nobody was here. He took a step away from Johnny, scanning the rooftops for a possible sniper. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to pick him off from such a locale.

--------------

Trevor trained his gun on Johnny, lining up the targeting hole with Johnny's chest. He'd have to pick him off with one shot. He met Ric's gaze one last time. Ric nodded. They were in understanding.

Trevor pulled the trigger.

--------------

Sonny jerked his head toward Johnny when he saw him start to fall. The bodyguard went down before he even heard the gunshot.

Shit.

He barely had time to have that single thought before something slammed into him. He didn't have the chance to reach for his gun.

--------------

As soon as he heard the gunshot, Ric charge forward, crashing right into an unprepared Sonny, who had been looking down at the fallen Johnny. Ric angled himself so he'd remain on the deck but Sonny would go tumbling down the stairs, just like his mother had when he pushed her.

--------------

There was nothing to grab onto. Just air. You couldn't hold onto air.

--------------

Ric scrambled to his feet, aided by Trevor who grabbed his arm to keep him steady. Ric laughed, seeing Sonny at the bottom of the stairs. It'd been priceless, watching him fall, trying to grab onto something but finding nothing there, hitting the stairs one by one and finally rolling to a stop.

Ric swaggered down the stairs, glowing with victory. Sonny finally knew what their mother had felt like, what Elizabeth had felt like.

Sonny stirred and started to get up. Ric could hardly believe it. The fall had to have hurt like hell. Sonny should be unconscious, but, obviously, he wasn't. But couldn't he at least be stunned? Ric guessed he'd underestimated how much of a fighter Sonny really was. Oh, well. Sonny had underestimated him all together. They could deal with this.

--------------

Try as he might, Sonny couldn't get his thoughts together. He knew he had to get out of there, but he was too dizzy and could hardly see as it was. He kept trying to breathe but he couldn't without getting a sharp pain in his chest. Getting shot had burned. But at least it'd been localized. This was a whole different kind of pain.

---------------

Sonny fell back against the wall, coughing up blood. Maybe he wasn't going to be too much trouble after all. Ric and Trevor went to either side of him and jerked him roughly to his feet.

"Feel like going for a walk, big brother?" Ric asked with a sneering laugh. Revenge...ever so sweet for the one who doled it out, a bitch for the recipient. He smiled to himself. What went around was finally coming back to someone who deserved to get it, all thanks to him.

---------------

Emily didn't know how long she'd run for. Everything was a blur. She'd torn from the hospital, blinded by pain and tears. It had been for nothing. She'd tried so hard to protect Zander, and in the end she had been the one who had gotten hurt.

She hauled herself up the stairs by the railing. It was awfully cold out for late spring, she noted. She hadn't grabbed her jacket on the way out. Shaking and not just from the cold, she stumbled across the expanse of deck before her. She could hardly see.

Choking on her sobs and tears she made it to the other side. She reached for the railing and moved her right foot.

There was something in her way. She plunged headfirst down the stairs, letting out a strangled scream as she fell into thin air.

--------------


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**The Fallout **

Chapter Thirteen

As her scream echoing across the vacant deck, Emily reached out, wildly clawing for anything that would stop her fall. Her fingers closed on something smooth, cold, round. She clung to it for dear life.

---------------

Carly paced the penthouse. She could only go through the same stack of sample wedding invitations so many times without thinking that it was so much more fun when she had Sonny to annoy while she did it. And when she thought about annoying Sonny, she thought about how late it was and that Sonny should _definitely _be home by now. Then she started worrying.

Finally giving up on the pacing, she went to the door and stuck her head into the hall. "Max?" she asked the guard. "Are Jason and Courtney back yet?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am."

"Has Sonny called you?" Max gave her a blank look, and she rolled her eyes. "I know, you're not supposed to tell me, but do you think you could make an exception just this once?" She pressed her thumb and index fingers together and waited.

He shook his head again. "No, ma'am."

She made a face. God, these guards were infuriating. "No, Sonny hasn't called you, or, no, you can't make an exception?"

"No, Sonny hasn't called me." This time he didn't shake his head.

"Thank you." Carly slammed the door behind her.

The phone rang as soon as she was in the door. Relief washed over her as she ran to it and scooped it up. "Sonny?"

"Hi, Mommy!"

Carly tried to hide her disappointment as her son's enthusiastic voice came across the line. "Hey, Mr. Man, isn't it way past your bedtime?"

"Me and Grandma watched a movie and it didn't get over until really late. It was really good. I wanted to call and tell you and Daddy goodnight."

She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Michael, Daddy's not here right now."

Michael didn't bother trying to hide his disappointment. "Where'd he go?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. He had to go out on business." Carly gave the usual cover, hoping it would work as well as it always had. Sooner or later her son was going to start asking more questions. She wasn't sure she was ready for that.

"Why does he keep leaving without saying goodbye?"

Carly sighed. "Look, sweetie. Sometimes Daddy has to go away on business and stuff. Sometimes he has to leave and he doesn't say goodbye. But he will _always _come back. Always."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Daddy does, too, and Daddy always keeps his promises." Carly sniffed a little as she said it.

"Okay," her boy offered brightly. She wished she were a child that could be so easily reassured. But right now she didn't even have Jason to assuage her worries. "Goodnight, Mommy."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"If Daddy calls tell him I miss him and I love him and I say goodnight, too."

"I will." She lowered the phone, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. What if this time, just this once, Sonny didn't come back? What would she do then?

-------------

She came to a stop with a wretched jerk that nearly tore her arms from their sockets. Emily twisted, swinging around and slamming into her savoir, the railing, her feet slipping down two stairs before her rubber soles and friction allowed them to stop. Her back slammed into the concrete hard, and her hand landed in something warm and wet.

Pain.

She could feel.

She was alive.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she looked toward the heavens, and she clutched the railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Reeling over her near death experience, she gasped for breath. She was not ready to die. She had just discovered that she could live.

She drew her hand out of the liquid and pressed it to her rapidly pounding heart.

---------------

Courtney walked down the steps of the docks, hugging herself against the cold and taking a moment to look out at the water. She wasn't sure what to say to her rescuer. He was, after all, an enemy. A threat to her family. Who knew what his motives were?

"Thanks for untying me," she finally said, an edge of caution in her voice.

"It would have been bad for business to leave you there," Alcazar replied with a smooth smile.

She threw him a look. "Bad for business?" What was that supposed to mean?

"Your brother will be grateful for my assistance."

God, he was so cocky, so self-assured, so arrogant. And she could finally follow his line of thinking. "Let me get this straight. You think that just because you untied me from a chair my brother is going to let you run drugs through his territory?"

"A lady like yourself should not be so well-informed of business transactions."

She felt like screaming. Instead, she got right up in his face. "What are Sonny and Jason supposed to do? Huh? Keep me in the dark? Lie to me and tell me everything is fine and it has nothing to do with me when someone takes a shot at me? Make up some ridiculous cover story for why I need guards following me around everywhere?" She shook her head. "I don't think so. I know enough about my brother and Jason and their business to know that they're _never_ going transport drugs for you."

He rocked back on his heels. "I saved your life."

"My life was never in danger."

Alcazar gave her that smile again. Before she could come up with something to say to wipe it off his face, Jason came charging down the stairs, grabbing hold of Alcazar and slamming him against the wall.

"Move and I'll break your neck!"

---------------

Elizabeth walked back around the counter with a basin of dirty dishes. Gathering them and washing them was one part of the job that never ended. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. Working was helping. It was keeping her thoughts off the baby by keeping her moving. Sometimes work was the best therapy. She smiled sadly at the thought.

"Oh my God!" a customer suddenly shrieked.

She whirled around and saw a man go down on his knees clutching his chest and other customers rushing to his side to assist or just staring.

"What's the matter?" one asked.

"Is he choking?"

"He's having a heart attack!" Elizabeth exclaimed, recognizing the signs. Her grandmother was a nurse; she knew these things. "Keep him calm. I'll be right there!" She snatched up the phone and dialed 911.

-------------

There was nothing Jason would have liked better than to snap this man's neck. He'd terrified Michael, kidnapped Courtney, tried to send them to jail for drug trafficking, and there was no telling what he'd do in the future. Alcazar was a threat that needed to be eliminated.

Courtney's voice kept him from doing it.

"Jason, don't! He didn't do it. He didn't kidnap me. He found me and he let me go."

Jason stared at Alcazar for a long moment, evaluating the situation. They had not finished evaluating Alcazar's threat level, and Sonny hadn't given the order. If he had not been the one who kidnapped Courtney, then there was no reason for him to die.

Tonight.

Jason pressed harder on Alcazar's neck for a few seconds. "Come near her again and you die." After delivering the promise, he stepped back.

Alcazar rubbed his neck and then pulled on the cuffs of his suit jacket to straighten it. "Tell your boss I'll be in touch."

Jason said nothing. Just stared. Coldly.

Alcazar turned to Courtney. "Give my regards to your brother." He took her hand and leaned down as if to kiss it.

Jason was tempted to step forward and break his arm, but he figured Courtney could handle it. And she did, yanking her hand away. "Don't touch me," she said with a threatening edge to her voice.

Alcazar shrugged and walked away, two sets of blue eyes staring daggers into his back as he departed. Once he had rounded the corner, Jason turned back to Courtney. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

She smiled that innocent smile he loved so much and stepped into his arms. "I am now that you're here."

Jason allowed himself to relax and just held her, so relieved and glad to have her back in his arms in one piece. After a moment, he pulled back and looked her right in the eyes. "Why were you alone?"

Courtney frowned, truly confused. "Excuse me?"

"Why did you leave without a guard?" Jason clarified.

She continued frowning. "I never take guards, not unless someone appoints one to me." Realization dawned across her face and her eyes grew wide and she shook his hands from her shoulders. "What is this, Jason? Huh? Are you going to start treating me differently just because I'm pregnant?"

---------------

The paramedics had taken the man away. Elizabeth watched from the window as the flashing lights faded into the distance. The remaining customers were just starting to settle down, returning to their seats and getting started on their abandoned food. Elizabeth figured it was time to get back to work. She headed for the counter.

"Nobody move!"

Elizabeth twirled around to see Scott Baldwin standing there, Detective Capelli barely a step behind him. Half the restaurant was frozen with forks halfway to their mouths. "This is a crime scene," Scotty proclaimed.

"What?"

"A man almost dropped dead," Scotty continued with a huge grin.

Elizabeth made a face. "He had a heart attack."

Scotty gave her the old wide-eyes expression. "How do you _know_ it was a heart attack?"

"Well, because he was showing all the symptoms of a man having a heart attack?" Elizabeth said slowly. Idiot.

"But it could have been food poisoning. Drop the 'food.' Just poisoning."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Baldwin replied. "Everybody out!"

Elizabeth grabbed his arm. "Wait, wait, wait. You can't just kick my customers out!"

He smirked at her. "Yes, I can."

Elizabeth dropped his arm and closed her eyes, trying to thing of the rational thing to do. It came to her in seconds. Call Bobbie. That was easy.

She want behind the counter and dialed the number. Bobbie picked up on the second ring. "Hi, Bobbie. It's Elizabeth. I'm sorry for calling so late, but a man just had a heart attack, and the police seem to think our food _poisoned_ him."

"Oh, dear."

Completely ridiculous. "I know."

"You go right ahead and lock up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You shouldn't be working anyway. You should be resting. Now go on home to that new husband of yours."

Elizabeth smiled. There was nothing she wanted more than to spend more time with "that new husband of hers." "Thanks," she said, and hung up. She untied her apron and stuck it under the counter, then went to usher her customers out. She could hardly wait to get home.

-------------

"What? Where did that come from?"

Courtney blew out a breath and sat down on the bench with a groan. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

Jason sat next to her, lying his arm along the back of the bench just behind her, looking her directly in the eyes. "What did you mean?"

She glanced at him, trying to think of a way to explain. It seemed so silly and unimportant now. She had just been kidnapped and she was making a big deal out of something that was probably nothing. Or was it? "I meant—I don't know. It's just, things are going to be different now. It's not going to be just you and me anymore. The baby comes first."

He twisted a bit of her hair between his thumb and index fingers. She inhaled slowly, enjoying the gentle tug. "We have nine months to get ready for that."

"I know. That's not what I'm worried about. Not exactly." Courtney smiled at herself, knowing she wasn't making any sense.

"What are you worried about?"

"It's just that I don't want anything to change between us." With those words she voiced her biggest remaining fear about this pregnancy.

Jason shook his head, his eyes confused. "Nothing's going to change."

That was so not true. "Everything's going to change. A baby changes everything. Look at Sonny and Carly, okay? I know he loves her, and she loves him, but I don't think I could stand that. Having someone monitoring me twenty-four hours a day—watching what I eat, telling me not to walk so fast, deciding how much stress I can handle...ugh."

"Is that what you're worried about? That I'm going to treat you differently now that you're pregnant? That I'm going to start making choices for you?"

Courtney looked down at her hands and nodded. That was exactly what she was afraid of. Jason could read her like a book.

Jason reached over and tipped up her chin so she'd look at him. "Loving someone doesn't give you the right to run their life. Your being pregnant doesn't change anything. You're still your own person. I'm not going to start making decisions for you." He smiled. "I mean, I'd _like_ it if you took care of yourself, but I'm not gonna tell you how." She smiled back, but his tone turned more serious. "It's a dangerous time right now. Sonny's better, but Ric's still out there; Alcazar's still out there. I don't know what they're going to do next, but I just want you to be safe."

Courtney looked at him for a long moment and then shifted positions, settling back against his chest. He moved his arm from behind her and wrapped it around her shoulders, gently rubbing her arm. Mmm...it felt so good. Being with Jason was like the feeling you got at the end of a very long day. A feeling of security, of safety, a feeling that you didn't have to worry about anything anymore because nothing bad could happen when you were there. She smiled. Jason was home to her. Not the penthouse, not the loft, because what had made them home was Jason's presence.

For the longest time she'd denied that feeling of home. When he rescued her from the Oasis, the nights he slept on the couch when AJ was out of town and the stalker was after her. But she wouldn't change a thing. Not one moment of denial, because that ignoring of what she felt for him had gotten them here, to where they were now. Happy, in love, getting married in a little more than a week, going to be parents to what would more assuredly be a very happy baby. She put a hand on her stomach and smiled. This baby was going to have the best father in the whole wide world.

"I love you, Jason," she said, a feeling of contentment washing throughout her.

"I love you, too." He kissed the top of her hair. "Now, what do you say we go home?"

Courtney laughed. "I think that's the best idea I've heard all night." Beaming at him, she took his arm and they started up the stairs, at home even though they were not technically there yet.

--------------

Faith looked all around and, satisfying herself of her solitude, stepped from behind the bushes. What was that they said? _Look both ways before you cross the street_. She giggled, reflecting on the time she had run Courtney down with her car. The bunny had survived. Highly disappointing at the time, but not nearly as disappointing as Elizabeth's remarkable recovery after her unfortunate tumble down the stairs. Ric was as hung up on her as ever, completely blind to what he was missing out on. A _real_ woman. Why couldn't he see that bland, boring, conventional Elizabeth could never make him happy?

What was worse than Elizabeth's survival was the lack of contact from Ric. Ric, who was so much like her, who _fed_ off revenge, who _lived_ for causing pain. There was no _way_ he would let his brother get away with what he—oops, what Faith—had done. So why hadn't Ric called her? She had stood by him through more things than _anybody_ else. He could trust her on this! But even without her help, she would have expected Ric to go after Sonny long before now. But Sonny Corinthos was still at large. Why was Ric wasting his time moping around this place with his precious little wifey?

Pondering the mysteries of the universe, she formed her hands into a visor of sorts, peering into the Lansing residence. So this was Ric's new home. Correction, house. It could never be a home without _her_ there. Boring colors, boring furniture. None of the subdued fire that had engulfed his apartment. Where was the leather couch? She grinned at the thought of that couch. Now _that_ was a piece of furniture.

She heard scuffling from further down the path leading up to the house and whipped her head around. Muffled voices drifted to her and she hastily ducked back behind the bushes, watching with the fascination young children had with their train sets and Barbie dolls as Ric and the man she assumed was his father rounded the corner.

Supporting a struggling, bleeding Sonny Corinthos between them. His hands were tied and someone had wisely slapped some duct tape over his mouth, but that didn't keep him from putting up a fight.

Her jaw positively dropped, both from shock and thrill.

"You did not forewarn me that he would be _this _difficult," Ric's father hissed, reaching behind him to open the door.

Faith clucked her tongue. Dumb man. She would _never_ have removed either of her hands from Sonny at that moment. Not with that hard, angry look in his eyes, that one that lacked any fear whatsoever.

Of course, all of Sonny's looks lacked fear. Except for when you threatened his family. She grinned. That had worked so well in front of the Five Families. Pity they'd thrown her out of their meetings instead of recognizing that their leader was a weakening, fading force.

"I didn't think he'd _be_ difficult after the stairs," Ric hissed back, keeping a tight hold on Sonny. "Don't get any ideas," he warned him.

Oh, but Sonny had ideas. A plethora of them. He was not weak enough to lie down and play possum while his brother and would-be-stepfather tried to kidnap him. He took advantage of Trevor's moment of distraction and kicked him in the knee. If Faith were capable of feeling sympathy, she would have winced as he let out a strangled cry and doubled over. Instead, she smirked, thinking _ouch!_ She could not feel sorry for Trevor's sheer stupidity. Taking one hand from Sonny was dumb. Taking the other bespoke an unheard of depth of idiocy.

Her darling Ric thought a bit quicker on his feet than his father, grabbing hold of Sonny and practically throwing him over the threshold. Damn! She couldn't see through the window from here. But she could almost swear Sonny had been able to keep his balance.

Ric gave his dad a quick hand up and then raced into the living room, Trevor limping as quickly as possible after him, closing the door.

Faith went to the window. This was not something she wished to miss.

---------------

God, his leg hurt. Trevor couldn't even remember what had possessed him to turn his back on Sonny. He'd been handful enough as a kid. He should have known he'd be trouble.

"I want to speak with your brother," Trevor said, rubbing his knee. His son had thrown Sonny into a chair and was holding a gun to his temple.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Ric said, sounding worried.

"What is he going to do? Shout for assistance? We're too far out in the wilderness for anyone to hear, and furthermore, if he does, we shall introduce his head to a bullet."

Ric considered it and then ripped the duct tape off his brother's mouth.

Sonny didn't even flinch.

---------------

Faith pressed her ear to the door, looking through the window as she did so. Damn it! She couldn't hear a thing.

---------------

Sonny observed his brother out of the corner of his eye. The barrel of his gun was just within his sight, trained at the side of his head. Loaded, safety off.

He wasn't scared. If Ric wanted to shoot him, so be it. He wasn't going to flinch, wasn't going to beg. But knowing Ric for the coward he was, he didn't think he would. Sure, Ric could threaten, could inflict pain in the most twisted way possible without feeling an ounce of remorse. But he couldn't carry through. He needed an _excuse_. He'd had to kill Fowler to set up Jason. He'd had to kill Paulie to get away alive. He'd had to kidnap Courtney and leave her to die to ensure Sonny and Jason would come after him. He'd had to make Carly think he'd raped her to tear at their trust. Hadn't worked. Done the exact opposite, actually.

Maybe Sonny pushing Elizabeth was a good enough excuse. Maybe it was a good enough reason for Ric to kill him. But Ric did things in a roundabout way. All this time, he'd wanted Sonny to suffer before he died, not outright kill him. Hadn't succeeded. This time around he didn't think would be too much different.

When was Ric going to get that he couldn't win? That no matter how hard he tried to come out on top, it wasn't going to happen? And that pretty soon, that ever-thinning thread that connected them was going to snap, and he was going to have to pay?

"You are running out of chances real fast, Ric," Sonny said, shaking his head.

Ric nodded, waving the gun around a little. Stupid. You didn't wave a gun around when you were holding it on somebody, whether they were tied up or not. Especially not with a third party who was obviously your buddy in the room. "Oh, I'm running out of chances. _Are you delusional?"_ Ric suddenly shouted. "I'm the one with the gun!"

"And that's supposed to scare me? Go ahead and shoot me, Ric!"

The third party stepped—no, limped, actually, Sonny corrected himself with a smirk, noting his handiwork—from the shadows. "No, no, we're not going to shoot you just yet."

The smirk faded as the moonlight came in through the door and hit the man's face. Even with his memories of this man fuzzy, he knew who he was. There was no mistaking the resemblance between him and Ric. Same eyes—empty, nothing in them but hate, disgust, anger. Something else, too. Resentment, maybe? Sonny supposed he should be grateful. Ric hadn't turned out anything like their mother. Everything from his looks to his personality he'd inherited from his father, who stood before him now.

"Trevor Lansing."

"Oh, you recognize me?" Trevor flinched a non-smile. "Good. No need for tedious introductions."

This posed a very interesting question, which Sonny supposed he was going to find the answer to: was Trevor as twisted as his son, or was it the other way around?

---------------

"Phew." Emily's breath came out in a gush. She thought she was okay now. She pulled her hand from her chest and began to drag herself to her feet. She looked down at her blouse as she did so.

And froze.

It was stained with red swirls patterned after her fingerprints. Her eyes went wide and her hand went to her mouth. Before it came too close, she realized the crimson that coated her fingers.

Very slowly, she took her eyes away from her hand and looked down at the stairs, starting at the bottom and working her way up. There were traces of scarlet on nearly all of them. She started to tremble long before she reached the step where she had placed her hand. Red droplets slipped from the stair above and fell into a growing puddle of blood. "Oh my God." The whisper escaped her lips.

Her eyes found Johnny at the top of the stairs, facedown on the cold deck. Using the railing as a support, she dragged herself to feet and stumbled to the top of the stairs, falling to her knees next to him. Blood soaked his shirt.

"Oh my God," she repeated. "Johnny? Johnny, can you hear me? Oh, God. It's Emily. Jason's sister."

Johnny groaned and tried to get up. She pressed him back down. "No, no, no. Don't try to move, please. Okay, I need to get help," she said, more to herself than to him, in an attempt to stay calm. Panicking wasn't going to help anything. "Help! Somebody help! Call 911!"

"No."

Emily looked back down, startled. "I need to get help."

"No," Johnny repeated. "No help." He started looking around wildly. "Where's the boss?"

Completely confused, Emily tried to keep him down. "Sonny? You want me to call Sonny? I can call Sonny." She looked around and then suddenly it hit her—she had left her pocketbook with her coat in Zander's room. Shoot! That meant she didn't have her cell phone.

Johnny didn't seem to understand what she was saying. He gripped her shirt and asked very slowly, "Where's the boss?"

Of course. Sonny's enemies didn't go around picking off his bodyguards for no reason. In her mind's eye she could see the Christmas Eve shootout—Zander had just gotten out of jail. They were laughing, throwing snow at each other. The first snow Zander had seen that year. Sonny and Alexis were laughing at them. She and Zander were both so free, lost in the happiness of the moment, behaving like two young children right after the first snowfall of the year. Everything was so perfect—and then she was crashing to the ground, with the sounds she later realized were gunshots coming to her ears. When Zander finally rolled off her, there was blood everywhere. Zander's blood, Sonny's blood. It'd been two birds with one stone for Sorel—he wanted Zander dead, but why not take out Sonny at the same time? Never mind she and Alexis. They just happened to be there, so they'd pick them off, too. Whoever had done this probably had a similar philosophy—they'd tried to pick off Johnny just because he'd been there. "Sonny was with you?" she asked.

"I gotta—" Johnny started coughing, and blood came up with it. "—find Sonny."

"No, no, no," Emily said. "You're not finding anybody." She had a camisole under her blouse, so she unbuttoned her shirt and shrugged out of it, pressing it to the wound. "You need to lie down. We need pressure. We need pressure because that's going to stop the bleeding, okay? So you need to hold this here so I can get help so we can help Sonny. All right? I'm gonna get help."

Johnny didn't seem to have any energy left to argue with her, so she got up. The closest payphone was on the docks, a mere block or so away. Not giving a thought to her almost-fall, she ran down the stairs.

---------------

"You shot my bodyguard. I don't appreciate it."

Trevor looked Adele's son up and down and shook his head in disgust. He had seen the signs that the boy was headed toward a life of crime—he had always had an issue with authority figures—but he had not foreseen how far up the criminal ladder he would go. He'd tried to spare Adele from it, knowing the boy would only disappoint her. Oh, he had tried. But she could not give up her precious firstborn. No, she would prefer to be without her second son, the one who had pursued an honest life. "You rely rather heavily on the threats, don't you?" he said. It was not exactly a question.

"How's your head?" Ric stepped in.

"How's your eye?" Sonny shot back.

Trevor watched as Ric's expression hardened. He'd been wondering where his son had obtained the black eye, but thought it rude to inquire.

"It must have felt real good, getting punched out—" Sonny let out a little laugh, "—by my sister." Sonny flashed an extremely condescending smile in Ric's direction.

Trevor raised his eyebrows. "Courtney did that?" Ric's somewhat embarrassed expression told him more than words ever could. He shook his head. Apparently, Courtney was more like her brother than he'd thought. Either that, or terribly misguided. She should have hit Sonny instead. "She seemed like such a nice girl."

"How the hell do you know my sister?" Sonny asked in a very low tone.

Trevor smiled. "You'd be surprised." Then he realized what a golden opportunity this was. They could run for miles with this... "She is an extremely nice young lady. Exceptionally friendly. _Amazingly_ conversational."

Sonny gave him a dark look as Ric continued the talk about Courtney. "I almost married her, you know," Ric offered pleasantly.

Trevor raised his eyebrows. Almost married his half-brother's half-sister? He had not been aware of that. It was a rather strange proposal, but would have been a very effective one. Obviously, unfortunately, it hadn't worked. Ric _had_ said, "almost."

"Yeah, but, you see, it didn't work, because she realized that nothing was worth being tied to a pig like you." Sonny's expression kept getting nastier and nastier, as did his tone.

This was what Adele had left him and her sole chance for a happy life for. "If only she'd come to that realization about you." Trevor plastered on his most pleasant smile.

"Given time—" Ric shrugged with his mouth and gave a certain nod, "—she will. Carly, too."

Sonny tilted his head in Ric's direction. "Why are you still wasting your time trying to bring me down when you've already lost?"

Trevor could have burst out laughing. Ric had lost, and, yet, here Sonny was, tied up, bruised and bleeding, with a gun to his head, and two people who despised him standing over him. This was what he considered victory? Ric was right. Sonny was deluded.

"You see, there's the thing, Sonny. I haven't lost. I just haven't won. Yet. I will." Ric's smile came and went in a second.

"Ain't gonna happen."

Trevor shook his head. "You have an atrocious attitude."

Sonny shrugged. "Yeah, I get that sometimes—don't you?"

Ric and Trevor just stood there for a few seconds, in collectively stunned silence. Here they were, holding a gun on him, and he was being a smart ass. How had he managed to stay alive this long? "You need to learn some respect," Trevor said very slowly.

"I say we teach him some," Ric said cheerfully.

"I concur. All in favor, say, 'aye.'"

Ric raised his free hand and they both exclaimed, "Aye!"

---------------

What was Ric _doing? _Hadn't he learned from the incident with his father? This was going to be painful. Faith loved pain.

---------------

The second Ric raised his hand and waved the gun, the moment his gaze strayed from away from him, Sonny propelled himself from the chair.

Ric hadn't seen it coming. He must have noticed a motion out of the corner of his eye, because he began to turn back, but by that time, he was already crashing to the ground, his gun sailing through the air to skitter into some out-of-reach corner.

This was why you didn't wave your gun around.

The fall knocked the air right out of Sonny, who'd been having a hard enough time trying to breathe without coughing, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He started to get up.

Started being the operative word, because in a split second, Trevor has his gun out and was firing a round right past his head.

"Don't move." Trevor's voice was perfectly cold, devoid of any emotion.

--------------

Faith looked around as the sound of the gunshot echoed outside. What if someone had heard? Why hadn't they used _silencers_? The neighbors didn't live _that_ far away that they wouldn't here a _gunshot_.

--------------

Behind the steering wheel of her car just turning onto the street where she now lived, Elizabeth jumped in her seat and slammed on the brakes.

"Was that a gunshot?" she wondered aloud, her eyes wide.

--------------

Ric scrambled after his gun, training it on Sonny as he came back up with it, furious with himself. He should have seen that coming from a mile away. He'd let Sonny take one step too close at Martha's Vineyard and his brother had proceeded to knock the gun out of his hand and beat the crap out of him.

"I got him," he said to his dad.

The thing about Sonny was he didn't seem particularly afraid of dying. Ric didn't know if he thought he was invincible or just didn't care. He did know they didn't have much time before Sonny pulled something else, and this time, he might escape. That was something they couldn't risk.

"We need to do this now, Dad!"

"The jury is in, the verdict is 'aye,' despite the interference." Sonny looked at him as if he was crazy. Trevor walked behind the couch, so the Ric's back was to him. Ric did not see him press the tiny white button in the bookcase but he did see the panel slide back. Trevor turned around and they both pulled Sonny up. He started to cough again.

"You don't get a vote," Ric said happily.

Trevor helped his son give Sonny a shove toward the panic room. "Time for you to get what you deserve."

Ric thought he saw a flicker there in the hardness of Sonny's eyes. He frowned. He couldn't place the emotion he'd seen there. It hadn't been fear exactly, because his brother wasn't afraid of anything. It was almost like...recognition. Realization that something he was familiar with was about to happen. Almost a haunted look.

It didn't make sense. Ric decided not to bother trying to understand it. Instead, he and his father settled for escorting Sonny into the panic room.

---------------

Faith put a hand over her mouth to silence her glee as the panel of wall slid shut, but her eyes sparkled joyfully in the darkness and the corners of her red mouth stuck out, upturned, beyond the palm of her hand. Ric had not dropped the ball after all. The fact that he had not included her in this made her jealous, but not so much that she could not appreciate the ingenuity of it. Poor Sonny. Ric and his father had taken away all his control.

Happier than she had been since seeing Elizabeth at the bottom of the stairs, she clicked away from the window. There was nothing more to see. So she headed back to her hotel room to enjoy the good things in life—wine, warm water, _revenge_.

--------------

Elizabeth clattered toward her front door, wishing she hadn't worn heels today of all days. Usually she enjoyed the extra height they gave to her petite frame, but right now she wanted something that was easy to run in. She reached out, desperate to get inside the house.

The door was locked.

Shoot!

Bad choice of thoughts. What if someone had shot Ric? Sonny had probably given Jason the order. Would she find her husband bleeding to death on the living room floor?

She fumbled through her pocketbook for the keys, spilling other articles upon the ground and not caring.

---------------

What was that Alexis had said to him? Now wasn't a good time to have a panic attack? Not that Sonny panicked, but if he did, which he didn't, this was not a good time for it. It was kind of ironic. They called rooms like these panic rooms, right? And panic rooms were supposed to be there _in case_ you panicked. You weren't supposed to panic _in_ them.

Sonny concentrated on playing it cool. If Ric or his father noticed how he reacted to being locked up, it was over for him. He wouldn't stand a chance.

So he played it cool. Pretended not to notice how much smaller this room was than the prison cell. How there were no windows, no ventilation, no lights except the monitors that cast an eerie bluish glow about the room.

At least there was light. There'd never been light in the closet. Nothing to see, only darkness. Only sound. The sound bruises made before they became bruises. Only thing to do, sit and wait in the dark for what was coming and then stand there and take it like a man because it was what you deserved.

He didn't know why, but he felt like laughing. Wasn't that like a warning sign of insanity or something? Laughing when there was nothing funny to laugh at?

Ric and Trevor had been talking, no doubt more of that back-and-forth, give-and-take mocking they'd had going on earlier.

"This is never going to work," Sonny commented. Ric had shoved him into the chair and was holding the gun on him while Trevor with something in a faraway corner that Sonny couldn't see.

Ric smiled smugly. "It already has."

Trevor came back into sight. "Hold this," he ordered Ric, passing off his gun. Sonny could finally see what Trevor had been working on.

Attaching a chain to a pair of handcuffs. Sonny followed the length of chain to where it was attacked to the table.

Locked up, chained to a wall. Could it get any better? That crazy urge to laugh grew stronger.

Trevor nodded to Sonny. "Hold up your hands." Sonny threw him a defiant look. Trevor sighed. "Let us make another attempt. Hold up your hands, or my son shall shoot you."

And that was supposed to be better than the alternative? Just then Sonny noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A motion on the monitor. Elizabeth. This could be over before it began. All he had to do was keep Trevor and Ric occupied until she got inside.

Giving up, Trevor grabbed Sonny's arm and snapped the cuffs around his wrists. "You will learn to appreciate our hospitality."

Sonny gave him another dirty look. He didn't check Elizabeth's progress. One glance over there too many and one of them would pick up on something. "Don't count on it."

Ric and Trevor looked at each other, shaking their heads sadly. Sonny guessed they were disappointed by his attitude.

Suddenly, Ric's gaze snapped the monitor. Elizabeth was just turning the doorknob. "Damn it!"

"What do we do?" Trevor asked, losing that calm, cool, collected, sophisticated front for three seconds. Sonny sat back to enjoy the show. It was fun to see him fret.

Ric clicked his remote and the door swung open. He practically threw his father out of the room. "Don't talk. Just move!" Trevor landed in a heap on the living room floor, and the door slid shut behind him.

Trevor had just gotten up when Elizabeth came in the door, calling for Ric.

"Elizabeth!" Sonny shouted. "Elizabeth!"

She didn't so much as bat an eyelash.

---------------

"Oh my God. Ric? Ric!" Elizabeth came into the room, head jerking from side to side and she searched for her husband.

Trevor stepped forward, a picture of his usual coolness now that he had to perpetrate a lie. "Ric had a call from a client. Whatever is wrong, my dear?"

"I thought I heard a gunshot. I thought something had happened to Ric."

"I heard it, as well. I'm afraid it was merely a car backfiring down the street."

---------------

"Elizabeth! _Elizabeth!_" Ric joined in, laughing as he did so. "_She can't hear you, Sonny._ No one can hear you!"

The realization of Ric's words sunk in. The room was soundproof. No one would hear. No one would ever know he was here.

Sonny shut up and watched Trevor lie through his teeth. Elizabeth was eating it up. He swallowed hard. At least he knew one thing. Elizabeth wasn't in on this. She had no idea.

---------------

Elizabeth sighed and smiled. "I'm just being ridiculous, I know. I'm just so worried about Sonny and what he's going to do to us. It never occurred to me that he wouldn't go to _jail_."

---------------

Elizabeth was afraid of him. She really thought he'd done this. If he had, then he deserved what Ric and Trevor were doing. If he hadn't, maybe he deserved it anyway. It hadn't taken ten years of Catholic school to get the point. You sin, God punishes you. God couldn't be done with him yet.

"It's time for you to get what you deserve!"

Sonny closed his eyes against Deke's voice, so similar in tone to the one Trevor had used, and thought_, I should be grateful._ This time he was the one who was paying. Not Carly, or Michael, or the baby, or anyone else that he loved.

But it was hard to be grateful when you heard the voice of the sick bastard who'd beaten your mother echoing throughout your head.

---------------

"Sonny's going to pay for what he did, Elizabeth." Trevor promised with a smooth smile. Adele's son was already paying. Soon enough, the claustrophobia would sink in. He could hardly wait for that day.

Elizabeth stepped back and smiled. Suddenly, her eyes dropped downward and that smile turned into a frown. She plucked at his sweatshirt. "Trevor? Is that...blood?"

---------------


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**The Fallout **

Chapter Fourteen

Gia Campbell stepped off the elevator at General Hospital for the second time this week. At least this time she knew where Zander's room was and didn't need to stop and ask for directions.

"Hey," she said as she stepped through the open door, closing it behind her. "I got your message. What's up?" The voicemail had sounded urgent, almost desperate. She could only hope she didn't have to get someone else out of jail. She figured she'd dried up all the influence she had over Scotty Baldwin for one week.

She went to his bedside and was going to sit down when she noticed a denim jacket and purse on the stool. Recognizing them as Emily's, she moved them to the nightstand and sat.

Zander didn't answer her right away, and if that didn't give away something was wrong, his expression did. Perfectly blank, unless you looked closely. Then you saw his jaw was clenched and he was staring a _little_ to hard at the ceiling, like if he looked anywhere else, he'd start crying.

"Zander?" she asked gently, touching his hand to make sure he knew she was there. "What's wrong?"

He laughed. Dry, humorless, sardonic. "Where do you want me to start?"

---------------

The Lansings were and always had been a highly intelligent clan. The past three generations, ending with Ric, were all Harvard graduates in either law or business. Trevor's degree had been business. Businessmen, especially those involved in the stock market, needed to be proficient at lying. Trevor was. Therefore, he had no difficulty concocting an excuse.

"I went out for a walk earlier and I came across this dog that had had the misfortune of being hit by a car. At least, I assume it was a car. Perhaps it was involved in some sort of fight. No matter. I took it to the closest animal hospital for treatment."

Elizabeth's feature's softened right away as she soaked up his lie like a sponge. He had to admire how trusting this young woman was. "Oh, Trevor, how sweet of you. Is the dog all right?"

"It shall make a full recovery and its owners have been located," Trevor assured her.

"They must be very grateful."

---------------

Ric let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "She bought it," he said more to himself than the poor company sharing the panic room.

"Yeah, she bought it. This time." Sonny had on that arrogant, bored expression again, like Ric was wasting his time. Except Sonny didn't have any time. Not of his own, at any rate. All twenty-four hours a day of his life now belonged to Ric and his father.

Expecting some of his brother's overconfidence, his next words caught Ric off guard.

"How long do you think that's going to last, Ric? How long before she gets suspicious?"

---------------

Emily had hardly been able to dial the numbers, her hands had been shaking so badly, but somehow she'd gotten it done and relayed to the 911 operator everything she knew about Johnny's condition and location. Then she told the kind woman that she should go back to her friend and that she would be sure to make herself seen. It had taken several tries to get the phone properly hung up. Even knowing help was on the way didn't stop the trembling.

It hadn't stopped during the race back to Rice Plaza, or during the conversation with the medics—no, she didn't know if Johnny had any allergies to medication, no, she didn't know anything about his prior medical record—or during the ambulance ride to General Hospital. A paramedic has asked if she was all right. She said she was just slightly freaked out. He gave her a blanket, explained she could be going into shock. She thought denial was a more appropriate word. She couldn't believe any of it had happened, nothing from Zander being paralyzed and throwing her out of his life to finding Johnny shot and bleeding on the deck of Rice Plaza.

Now, as she sat waiting for the police to come and question her in the lounge, her hands still shook, and as much as she tried she didn't seem able to stop it.

"Emily?"

She looked up at the sound of the familiar baritone and saw Zander's father Cameron looking down at her with concern. "Oh, hi, Dr. Lewis."

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Emily looked down at herself. She was a mess, her hands and shirt covered in blood, and she could only imagine the state of her hair, which she'd run her hands through so many times and pulled at so many different angles. "Yes, I—I'm fine. I just, um, this isn't mine," she said hastily, realizing he might be wondering where all the blood was from.

"That's good to hear," Cameron said dryly.

She had a feeling, but she asked anyway. "So, um, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Alexander. It's amazing how fast gossip travels around this place but how slow actually news moves." Cameron spoke with the same subdued sarcasm. "I didn't find out until a few minutes ago that he had been shot. I thought you would be with him."

"Yeah, um, I—I thought I would, too. Zander and I..." she trailed off. She didn't know how to say this. She didn't even want to admit it to herself let alone someone else. But she couldn't leave her sentence in midair like that. She swallowed and finished the thought, her heart breaking into a thousand pieces over every word, "...we're not exactly together anymore."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Cameron's sincerity wasn't making her feel better. "Yeah, I am, too," she said very quietly, nodding almost unconsciously. Finally, she snapped herself out of the state of mind she was in, gesturing in the direction of Zander's room. "You should go see him."

"If you're sure you're all right?"

Emily nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah, I am. Thank you, Dr. Lewis."

"Anytime," he replied, and walked off in the direction of Zander's room.

Emily sat there, her hands tangled in her hair. She couldn't believe she and Zander were over. It was just impossible. They'd survived _so_ much. Even when they'd both thought it was the end it hadn't been because there was this connection that would never ever really go away. This couldn't be the end. How could she let it be?

The elevator chimed and a familiar obnoxious voice caused her to look in that direction. "I can't believe this," Scotty Baldwin was jawing at Detective Capelli. "First a potential poisoning at a diner you take your kids to all the time, then a shooting on a nice observation deck. This town's going to the pot!"

Oh, no. Baldwin was the last person she wanted to be questioned about what had happened to Johnny.

---------------

Ric didn't say anything for a long moment. Finally he shook his head disgustedly and threw a, "You don't know what you're talking about," in Sonny's direction. Shrugging off the statement because he knew what was going to happen and he chose to deny the truth rather than accept it.

This could work. Grate away at Ric's confidence in this whacked out scheme of his. Wear him down, get him mad. Because when people got mad, they made mistakes. "No, I'm serious. How many lies are you going to tell her? Sure, she'll buy into them at first, but not forever. She's going to get suspicious because that's what Elizabeth does. She's going to see you for what you are and _she's going to leave you_." And Sonny would rejoice the day that happened. Some people you were stronger with than without, like Carly was for him. Others tore you down. Ric was the latter for Elizabeth. He was only going to hurt her again and again, and he didn't want her stuck in that cycle.

Ric snapped, just like he had in the police station, at the hospital. He did the exact same thing. Reached over, grabbed Sonny, dragged him out of the chair, threw him against the wall, shouted in his face. Except this time it was different. He couldn't raise his hands to defend himself.

"Don't talk about Elizabeth!"

flashback  
_It was so dark in the closet you couldn't see a thing. You could hear, though. Oh, you could hear. Breaking glass, shouts, the laughter of an evil man with a black heart. Mama begged him not to touch you, to leave you alone, you were just a boy. "No el duela!" she screamed. "No el duela!"_ Don't hurt him, _she was saying. _Don't hurt him.

Don't hurt him, Don't hurt him.

"Shut up, woman!"

He threw her against the wall. Maybe he threw her to the floor instead, you couldn't see inside let alone outside this frightful dark place. The sound of glass breaking, crashing to the floor and shattering into a million pieces. You and Mama would have to pick it up later, because the house had to be clean when he came home from work the next day.

You heard footsteps coming down the hall and you knew you'd be getting what you deserved soon. You stood up and prepared to take it like a man because it was what you deserved and it was worse when you showed weakness.

You wished you were stronger so you could fight back and protect Mama from him. But you were not strong. So you stood there with your hands at your side and waited. You would not raise your hands. You would not flinch. You would not make a sound. You would not cry.

Those were the rules, and the rules had to be followed when you were getting what you deserved.

The door opened, and he came in, closed it behind him, almost all the way. There was still a sliver of moonlight coming through a crack in the door. Shadows danced across the wall. You saw his outline on the wall as he slipped his belt from around his waist and raised it high to beat you with it.

It hit you again and again. You did not raise your hands. You did not flinch. You did not make a sound. You did not cry.

It was what you deserved.  
**end flashback**

---------------

Monica was filing at the nurse's station, getting everything in order. The doctor who was treating Emily came over and placed a folder in a rack. Monica went to it immediately.

"Excuse me, are these my daughter's test results?" she asked, lightly picking up the folder.

Dr. Caldwell turned back to her. "Dr. Quartermaine," he acknowledged with a nod. "Yes, they are. It doesn't look good."

Monica felt her stomach turn over. She had heard that so many times when she was getting cancer treatment, and it was more of a euphemism than honesty, covering up how bad the actual news real was. "How bad?" she asked, fingering the folder.

"The chemotherapy is breaking down her white blood cells and weakening her defenses. Even a common cold at this time could be extremely dangerous, possibly even life-threatening."

Struggling not to let her emotions show, she said, "Thank you. I—I'd like to look this over alone, please."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Quartermaine."

"So am I." He had no idea how much.

---------------

Jason stepped off the elevator, never removing his gaze from Courtney as she did the same. She didn't look any the worse for wear after having been kidnapped. She hadn't let on that the kidnapping had bothered her. She was acting like things like this happened everyday.

Well, actually, in this business, they did. But that wasn't the point. The point was that no one should get used to being kidnapped.

He stopped her as she headed toward their door by lightly touching her arm. She turned around, her mouth open a tiny bit and her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. There was a slight smile tugging at her lips.

She certainly looked okay, but he had to be sure. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Courtney's smile widened and she put her hand on his chest, giving him a playful shove. "Yes, I'm sure. Would you quit asking me that?"

He knew Courtney and he knew that she was strong and vulnerable at the same time. She wanted him to think she was brave enough to handle being a part of this life, which she was. But that didn't mean she had to keep how she really felt when things like this happened to herself. "You were kidnapped, Courtney. It shouldn't have happened. It's okay to say that you were scared."

Courtney sighed and rubbed her forehead. She let her hand drop. "I was scared. A little. But not for long. I knew you'd find us and you did."

Jason smiled at the word. _Us_. Her and their baby. It was impossible for him to visualize the tiny life growing inside Courtney—the accident had made sure of that—but he knew it was there, and he was glad.

Courtney's puzzled voice drew him away from his thoughts. "You know, I don't understand why someone would kidnap me and just leave me there."

Jason had been thinking about that earlier, but his concern for Courtney had taken priority. She came first. "It doesn't made sense."

"I mean, Alcazar was saying that you'd owe him for rescuing me, but if he'd kidnapped me, wouldn't he have just demanded that you move drugs for ransom?"

Alcazar was a businessman. He had one goal: to run his drugs through Sonny's transit networks. He wasn't stupid. If he had kidnapped Courtney, Jason would kill him. Alcazar knew that. He could have kidnapped Courtney to then make it look like he'd rescued her, but that was complicated. It didn't seem worth the trouble. Alcazar was straightforward. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Yeah, okay. I was walking to Kelly's and somebody grabbed me from behind. I fought them, but I think they used chloroform. God, Jason. I should have just tried to run away."

Jason shook his head. "Don't second-guess yourself. All that matters is that you're all right." It didn't change anything. Courtney had done what she had thought was best at the time, and she had to respect her own decisions.

"The next thing I knew, I was in some warehouse tied to a chair. I called for help, and then Alcazar showed up. He cut the ropes and took me to the docks. Then you came."

Jason nodded and stared past her, thinking. It didn't make sense. If he went with his gut on this, then Alcazar hadn't done it. It'd been someone else. Obviously, they hadn't wanted to hurt her or use her for leverage. Either that or something had scared them away, making them leave Courtney behind. The only thing this kidnapping seemed to have accomplished was putting Alcazar in a good mood and keeping Jason busy.

Maybe that was it. Maybe it was a distraction. A distraction from what?

He felt Courtney's warm fingers tugging at his hand and he looked at her. That playful yet innocent smile was on her face again. He could feel the cool metal of her engagement ring rubbing against his skin and it made him smile. In just over a week they'd be making the promise to spend the rest of their lives together, accepting each other, supporting each other, comforting each other, loving each other, official. He couldn't wait to marry her. He figured there had to be a luckier guy somewhere on the planet. In Australia, maybe Europe. But he was pretty sure he was the luckiest in all of Port Charles.

"Let's not worry about it. It's over," she said, using her free hand to run a finger down his chest. She was grinning from ear to ear.

The door across the hall opened, and Carly stuck her head out. Seeing them standing in the hall, she rolled her eyes in what he guessed was relief. Relief over what, he could only imagine. "Jason. Thank _God_ you're here."

Jason and Courtney separated.

Carly took note of that and her face fell, if that was possible since she hadn't looked very happy when he'd first laid eyes on her. "Looks, guys, I'm sorry. You know what? You guys are busy, and—it can wait. I'm sorry." She began to go back inside.

Courtney called her back. "Carly, what's wrong?"

Carly seemed to be pondering her options. If he knew Carly, and he did, as impossible as that seemed, she was probably trying to decide which took priority—him and Courtney, or her and whatever she was worried about. "You—you guys are busy. It's nothing. Just...go back to whatever you were doing."

She wasn't fooling anyone. Especially not Jason. He let out a resigned sigh, put is hands on his hips, looked at the floor. "Carly, just tell me what you did so I can fix it."

Her jaw dropped and her eyes blazed. "Who said I did anything?"

"Because you always do things and think about them later and then I have to clean up after you."

Carly put her palms to her back and gave him a condescending look. "Well, for your information, this isn't about me. It's about Sonny."

"What about Sonny?"

Carly's anger seeped away and was replaced by worry. "He's gone."

---------------

Ric had to get out of the panic room. Trevor may have temporarily assuaged her worries, but a temporary fix was just that—temporary. Soon enough she would start getting worried about how long this meeting with a client was. She'd start picturing all the things that could have happened to Ric between here and his client's residence.

So, in order to get Ric out of the panic room, he had to get Elizabeth out of the living room. He knew just the way.

"Come, my dear. There is something most fascinating that I must show you."

"Oh?" she asked, both confused and intrigued.

"Have you been out back yet?" he asked, taking her am and leading her in that direction.

"No," she said, walking alongside him. "Why?"

"There is the most magnificent oak I've ever seen..."

---------------

Ric had thought the plan was brilliant the first time his father had run it by him, but now that it was in effect, he wasn't so sure, and, listening to Sonny, he was becoming less and less sure by the second. Which was, no doubt, exactly what his brother wanted. But what if Elizabeth did find out? Would she understand he was trying to protect her? She was so much better than him. She still believed in the justice system and the law. Would she find doing this to another human being, even if he was a murderer, unforgivable?

The more Ric thought about it, the more he wondered what it was about this plan that had been so appealing, and what was it going to do? It took away Sonny's control and it would drive his family crazy and eventually make them despise Sonny, but it didn't really _do_ anything.

"Aw, look, your old man has given you an escape. Ain't that sweet?"

Shaking out of his thoughts, Ric glanced behind him at the monitors. Trevor was just leading Elizabeth out of the living room, saying something about trees. He wouldn't have much time. He glanced back at Sonny and reluctantly released his grip on him. He'd love to kill him with his bare hands, but that would be too easy.

Ric trained his gun on Sonny. "You pull anything, I'll shoot you."

Sonny gave him his usual disdainful, dark look. Ric backed out of the panic room and let down his guard only when the panel was thoroughly closed. But he didn't have time to waste. Trevor could not keep Elizabeth looking at an oak tree all night. He raced toward the stairs.

---------------

Sonny watched the monitors wearily, resting his chin on his hands. He watched Ric exit the living room. He'd had to get his brother—and he used the word loosely—out of there. Ric was stupid, but he wasn't blind. Not completely, at any rate. The memories were shaking Sonny. He couldn't let Ric see that. You did not show weakness.

Sonny knew he needed to get out of here. Yeah, maybe he deserved to be here. But Carly and Michael and his unborn child needed him. He wasn't going to leave them. They didn't deserve to pay for whatever he had or had not done.

But the claustrophobia was doing what it always did. Making him feel trapped, helpless. Making it hard to focus. Next to impossible to breathe. The more he fought it, the worse it got.

There was one solution: stop fighting.

That wasn't an option. Not for Sonny Corinthos.

---------------

"What do you mean Sonny's gone?"

"I mean, he's gone. I had an appointment with Dr. Meadows, and I went, and when I came back, Sonny was gone, and if he went somewhere, he should have been back by now, Jason." She was starting to cry.

Courtney's heart went out to her. She knew what it felt like when Jason disappeared, how she tried to stay cheery and optimistic while a little voice in the back of her mind kept reminding her that the man she loved could be shot, or stabbed, or worse at anytime. Carly had always held her together when things got really back, talking her down, explaining how she couldn't overreact or try to fix anything.

Courtney could see that no matter how worried she was herself, she was going to have to be the rational one. It was time to repay Carly for all the times she'd comforted her. Courtney only hoped she could handle the responsibility.

"Did you guys have a fight?" Jason asked.

"Of course we didn't have a fight! Would I be this upset if we'd had a fight!" she snapped.

Courtney glanced at Jason and almost burst out laughing. His expression said "yes" quite clearly. But instead of laughing, she reached out and put a soothing hand on her sister-in-law's arm. "Carly, calm down, okay? Jason was just asking." Because he was. He was only making sure Carly wasn't overreacting. Which she probably was to a certain degree, but at least it wasn't over an argument.

Carly sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. "I know. It's just, God, I'm so worried."

"I'm going to go look Sonny," Jason said, the sincerity coming through in his tone and his eyes, which looked directly into Carly's. Courtney didn't doubt for a moment that he'd find her brother and bring him home safe. Jason always did.

Carly nodded.

"I'll stay with her," Courtney said, her voice barely over a whisper. She didn't want him to go. It was selfish. Jason staying with her meant her brother would remain missing. But she wanted him to stay with her and their baby just the same.

Jason reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. He'd long ago promised to never leave without saying goodbye. This time, he didn't voice the words, but she could see them in his eyes. _"Goodbye. I love you,"_ they said. She gave him a weak smile because it was all she could muster. Her heart was speaking silently and just as loudly, conveying the same words, with a, _"Be careful. You mean so much to me, and to our baby,"_ added on. She knew he heard exactly what she wanted to say in the silence. He nodded, promising without words that he'd be careful, and then he drew his hand away, leaving her feeling breathless. He turned around and walked into the elevator. The doors slid closed.

Now her man was off to parts unknown, too.

---------------

"Zander, tell me what's wrong." Gia wasn't asking. She was telling. It wasn't so much her undeniable nosy streak that demanded that she find out as how she felt about Zander. She _cared._ He was her friend. If something was wrong, she wanted to fix it. Maybe she couldn't, but at the very least she could serve as a sympathetic ear.

He didn't answer her. She could see this was going to take some prodding. "Okay..." she said. Safe subjects. Ask a few questions, get him talking. "How'd the surgery go?"

"I'm paralyzed. Haven't you heard?" he threw at her.

"Oh my God. Where's Emily?" She should definitely be here for him for this. This was _huge_.

"That's the best part."

Gia waited for him to continue. She'd learned about this in law school. Sometimes the best way to get a person to talk was just to leave the silence hanging there. Eventually the person you were interviewing would try to fill it. And Zander did.

"You know how Emily's been pushing me away, pulling me back, pushing me away again ever since she came back? Well, I know why now. Emily has breast cancer."

Her brain went numb. She didn't know what to say. "Wow."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

Gia looked around the room. The purse and jacket were definitely Emily's, but if the person she loved had just found out he was paralyzed, she would have been standing by him right now. She was sure Emily would do the same thing. "So where is she?"

"Things are different now. I'm paralyzed. Emily has cancer. She needs to be putting all her energy into fighting this thing. She doesn't need to be looking after some—some lame cripple like me."

Gia didn't follow. Zander loved Emily, Emily loved Zander. People who loved each other looked after each other. It was that simple. "I don't see how you can stop her."

"That's where you come in." Zander gave her a very flat, sincere, begging look that instantly made her worry. "I need you to pretend to be in love with me."

Gia's jaw dropped. Crashed through the floor, fell all the way to the basement. At least in the cartoon version. "You want me to _WHAT!"_

---------------

Scotty stepped in front of her and waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello, Miss Quartermaine. Feeling better after that fainting spell you pulled in your boyfriend's hospital room?"

She glanced at him and away. "Um, yes. And I didn't pull anything. I fainted."

He smirked, dropping into the seat across from her. "That's what they all say. You have a shooting to tell us about?"

She nodded.

"Well, why don't you tell us about it then?" His tone was one you reserved for very young children.

"I, um, I was upset, and I was running, and I tripped over something," she began. Reliving the images in her head was making her feel even more shaky.

"Hold on a sec, where was this?" Scotty interrupted, not caring about her fragile emotional state.

She stared at him blankly. "Um, it was a deck. Near the docks. Rice Plaza, I think it's called."

Scotty grinned. "Well, well, well. A lot of stuff going down at Rice Plaza lately, eh, Capelli?"

The detective didn't offer any comment. He just stood observing Emily, taking notes, making her feel extremely uncomfortable by not speaking. At the same time, she felt her anger rising at how Scotty was treating her best friend's situation as nothing. Elizabeth was not a person who could feel to him, merely a casualty, a means to an end. Except his end wasn't going to be reached thanks to Gia.

"So, um, I tripped, and I fell down the stairs, but I grabbed onto the railing. I—my hand landed in something—some blood, and I looked up and I—I saw him."

"Saw who?" Scotty didn't use any of the comforting coaxing that Mac did. He came straight out and asked, with harsh impatience.

Why were they asking questions they already knew the answers to? "Johnny. I don't know his last name. I've seen him when I visit my brother. He works for Sonny." Emily got up and started pacing, hugging herself. It was warm in the hospital. She'd noticed that when she'd first stepped inside. But suddenly she felt cold. Maybe it was the shock the paramedic had warned her about.

"Ah ha!" Scotty exclaimed triumphantly. "So, this, guy, Johnny, you saw him."

She nodded, beginning to shiver ever so slightly. "He was shot, and he didn't want me to call for help but I did anyway."

"Did he happen to say who shot him?"

She shook her head. "No. He kept asking where Sonny was."

Scotty snapped his fingers, startling her into a jump. "I knew it! Now here's the million-dollar question, folks? Who killed Johnny?"

She whirled around, eyes wide and heart motionless in her chest. "He's dead?" she squeaked.

"Well, I don't know," Scotty conceded with a shrug. She breathed a sigh of relief until hearing his next words. "But knowing Corinthos's track record, I bet he will be!"

She stared at him, terrified of what he might say next. With only the information that Zander and John were shot by the same gun, he'd concocted a thoroughly ridiculous and nonetheless horrifying tale. She could only imagine where he'd go with this.

He leaned forward a little, motioning with his hands. "Here's what I'm thinking. Sonny doesn't go anywhere without bodyguards. He takes Johnny with him the night he pushes Elizabeth—"

"Sonny didn't..." Emily's whisper could not be heard over Scotty's excited voice.

"Johnny sees the whole thing. Sonny tells him if he says anything, he'll kill him. So, Johnny lets it sit for a few days, and then he gets this _great_ idea. His testimony can send Sonny to jail, right? So he can threaten Sonny about going to the cops and blackmail him!"

Emily's eyelids fluttered. Oh my God, this was even worse than her wildest nightmares. And this was really _happening_.

"Johnny spins his little idea by Sonny at the plaza, right? Sonny doesn't really like it too much. Sonny doesn't want this hanging over his head, so he figures he ought to neutralize the situation because that's what mobsters do. He shoots Johnny. He doesn't count on Emily—you—showing up and finding Johnny before the guy has a chance to kick the bucket. Whatdaya think?"

Emily didn't think anything. Her mind was positively numb. This was not happening to her. It could not be happening. The terribly sick feeling she'd been experiencing overtook her. She was lost in blackness before she hit the ground.

----------------

The tree hadn't really been that interesting. The buds at the very tips of the branches were pretty, and some of the knots and the bark formations would be fun to try to duplicate with her paints, but it was a _tree_. Elizabeth humored Trevor and played along. It kept her mind off Ric.

She told Trevor what she thought of the tree, leaving out the part about it being sort of bland, as they reentered the living room. She had to admit it, moving in had been a good idea. The place felt cozy, safe, like a real home should. The way no place, not her studio, not her room above Kelly's, not even Ric's apartment, had made her feel in a long time. She knew that nothing bad in the world could happen under this roof. Nothing at all.

Ric came into the room, tugging a sweatshirt over his T-shirt. Little did Elizabeth know, he had replaced the other sweatshirt so she would not notice the blood she'd spotted on Trevor's.

"Hey, guys," he said. "What's up?"

Elizabeth grinned, going over to him and giving him a hug. "Oh, Ric. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Well, maybe because a certain mobster who happened to be his brother and who happened to have a very good reason to send his enforcer, the heartless Jason Morgan, to kill him was free to roam the streets as he pleased. She didn't say that. She chose, "You were gone for so long," instead.

He gave her a swift kiss. "I got tied up with all the documentation. I swear, seventy percent of what we lawyers do is push papers around a desk."

So that was what Ric had been doing. Paperwork. She was just overreacting.

"Not that I'm not glad, but why are you home so early?" Ric asked. "I thought Courtney's shift went on for another hour, at least."

Elizabeth groaned and filled him on how the customer had had a heart attack and Baldwin had come charging in. Ric shook his head. "That man is incompetent."

There was a comfortable silence, which Trevor ended with a wave when he started to head out back. "Well, the hour is awfully late even for a night owl like myself. I think I shall retire. Goodnight all."

"Goodnight," they called after him, Elizabeth adding how happy she was to be living with him. He told he was just as overjoyed.

As soon as they were alone, Elizabeth turned around and let Ric wrap his arms around her. "You really like it here?" he whispered, his chin tickling her ear.

"Mmm," she replied, wondering if it was wrong to be so happy after something so horrible had happened. "Moving here was the best decision I ever made...next to marrying you, of course."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," he said, mock-getting-over-being-offended. She was sure he was about to say more, but then the door crashed open and Ric was being torn from behind her and thrown against the wall by an angry Jason Morgan. She screamed.

"You have ten seconds to tell me what you did with Sonny," Jason said very quietly.

---------------


	15. Chapter Fifteen

The Fallout

Chapter Fifteen

Baldwin and Capelli both stood, looked at each other, then at Emily, then back at each other. Baldwin nudged her with his foot. "Hey, you can stop faking."

Capelli cleared his throat. "I don't think she's faking, boss."

"Who asked you?" Scotty snapped, shooting daggers in his direction. He knelt, tugging at his pant let as he did so. That way the crease stayed even. He poked her repeatedly in the shoulder. "You're not going to fake me out this time, missy!" The Quartermaine girl didn't budge.

---------------

Monica Quartermaine stepped off the elevator. It'd been a particularly difficult surgery. She had operated on a young girl, doing her best to correct a congenital defect in her heart. The girl reminded her so much of her own daughter. So young, much too young to be going through this. Time would tell if the girl would make it. Monica could only pray she would.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a flash of orange. It was that incompetent Scott Baldwin's shirt, she realized, as she turned to get a better look. Scott Baldwin was kneeling over her own Emily, sprawled across the hospital floor.

"Oh my God." Monica was galvanized into action, rushing to her daughter's side. Her first concern was her daughter's health. Her second was tearing into Scotty. Once she was kneeling by Emily, holding her hand, she let the second become priority. _"What did you do to her!"_ she demanded, drawing stares from several of the nurses at the nurse's station.

"I was interviewing her and she pulled another one of those stunts like she did in Zander's hospital room!"

Monica had no interest in Baldwin's excuses. "I want you out of this hospital! And make no mistake, I will be filing a harassment suit!" Scotty and his lackey didn't respond to the threat—no, the _promise_—right away. She decided to make sure the message got across, loud and clear. "_Out!" _she roared.

They practically scurried to the elevator.

Monica refocused her attention on her daughter as one of the nurses came running over. This was exactly what she and Emily's doctor had been afraid of. Her immune system was shutting down, depleting her energy levels. Not only was a common cold dangerous, but stress as well, which, thanks to Baldwin, Emily was under a lot of. _Too_ much of.

"Oh my God. Emily? Emily, honey, it's your mother." She gave her a gentle shake and Emily began to stir.

"You need—you need to call Jason," Emily said weakly. "Please, call Jason."

"I will. I will, I promise." Right now she and the nurse had to get Emily set up in an isolation room. She would take no arguments from her daughter. If they did not do this, Emily could die. She would not allow that to happen!

---------------

Jason felt Ric cringing beneath his arm. Coward. And he still hadn't acknowledged he'd spoken. Just in case Ric had a hearing problem, he repeated the demand in the same tone: quiet, even, forceful. "Tell me where Sonny is right now."

"Jason, no!" he heard Elizabeth screaming at him. Her voice didn't have the same effect on him that Courtney's did. It didn't make him let Ric go. Sure, he felt bad for doing this in front of her, but he was angry and it needed to be done. Ric had done something with Sonny. He was going to find out what.

"Wait! You can't do this! You can't just come into our house!" Elizabeth had obviously taken note of Jason's backup, Max, who was following his orders to search the house. They were going to find Sonny, with or without Ric's help or permission.

Speaking of Ric, Ric wasn't speaking. Not smart. He either talked, or Jason would break his neck. "Where's Sonny, Ric?"

"I don't know what you're—"

Jason could tell when people were lying. He didn't even need Ric to finish the sentence for him to see it. "Don't lie to me!"

"Look, I don't know where my brother is, okay? I didn't even know he was missing. The last time I saw him, he was in a prison cell, exactly where he belongs!" Ric's eyes flashed in anger.

Jason knew which brother belonged in a prison cell, and which belonged six feet under. It wasn't Sonny.

"Found him upstairs," Max's voice came. Jason glanced behind him, saw Max shoving a middle-aged guy who looked just like Ric forward. He knew who this guy was. Trevor Lansing, the guy who'd made Adele choose between Ric and Sonny. She'd made the right choice, but she should never have had to choose in the first place.

"Whatever is going on?" Trevor inquired, going to a very upset Elizabeth's side.

It didn't matter if someone was holding a gun to his head or was in the position to snap his scrawny neck, Ric never stopped yammering. "Meet Jason Morgan, Dad. Sonny's enforcer, which is just a fancy way of saying he kills people. Gets his hands dirty so Sonny doesn't have to." Ric directed his next remark to Jason: "Don't you ever get sick of taking his abuse and think about getting a real life?"

Ric was wrong. Jason had a life. He liked it. Ric wasn't going to have the option of liking his life, because Ric was going to die. He deserved it. Tonight was supposed to be the night Jason told Sonny he was going to quit, and here he was, working. Tonight was supposed to be about him and Courtney and their baby. Ric had taken that away. Ric had taken Sonny. Ric was going to die.

Not today, apparently: Jason's cell phone rang. Shooting Ric a look that could kill, he reluctantly let him go and answered it.

"Yeah?" he said sharply. He wasn't expecting it to be Monica on the other end of the line, sounding a bit frazzled but maybe it was the way he'd answered the phone.

"Jason, hi. Could you come to the hospital please? It's about Emily."

There was pretty much nothing Jason wouldn't do for Emily, so he said, "Okay, I'll be right there," and hung up. "Max," he said, and they left without a word of goodbye or apology. They weren't sorry, and they would be back.

As soon as the door closed, Elizabeth ran to Ric and gave him a tight hug. She pulled back and he rubbed his neck where Jason's forearm could have crushed it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. What was this? Whenever anything bad happened, all roads lead to Ric? Ric hadn't even _done_ anything! Ric was too good a man, a person in general, to have done something with Sonny. The avenues he were pursuing were strictly legal. Unlike Jason, who barged into anyone's home whenever he felt like it and didn't give a second thought to what was legal and what wasn't, not to mention what was moral and what wasn't, as he killed people. Once, she'd considered him a friend, much more than that. It wasn't until she met Ric that she realized how truly wrong she'd been about him.

"God, I hate him," she said with much feeling. "I hate Jason and everything he stands for."

No words could have made Ric happier. "Jason's going to get what he deserves. Sonny will, too. Maybe he already has." He embraced Elizabeth, smiling evilly at Trevor behind her back.

She had no idea...

---------------

Sonny, having witnessed the entire exchange, shook his head in a resigned, sad kind of way. While Ric thought Sonny was getting what he deserved, Elizabeth was getting exactly what she didn't. He was willing to bet Ric didn't think twice about lying to her. After all, Elizabeth was never going to find out, right?

Except she was. The question was when.

The Lansings retreated up the stairs, turning out the downstairs lights and leaving Sonny in almost total darkness. Leaving him with an entire night to figure out a way to get the hell out of here.

---------------

Keeping Carly calm was no easy task. Courtney had no idea what she was doing. Not only had she never had to keep Carly from doing anything crazy before, she was new at this whole mob girlfriend thing herself. She had the basic rules down: you went to the police station when they got arrested, you didn't ask them where they were going when they left, you didn't ask them where they had been when they came back, you—God, there was so much to remember, and she knew she hadn't even learned half of it yet.

She tried getting Carly to focus on the wedding. They looked through invitations for awhile but it wasn't working. Carly's favorite past time as of late couldn't keep her mind off of what was going on. She could see her sister-in-law spacing out as they sat at the dining room table.

"Carly, what do you think of this one?" Courtney asked, trying to pull Carly back. She pointed to a pretty cream-colored piece of stationary with a border of mauve roses and loopy cursive writing.

Carly got up and walked over to the coffee table, running a hand over a piece of paper that rested there. Courtney stood up, too, unsure of what to do or say. "You know, I found the perfect wedding dress for you," Carly said, sniffing and holding out the page to her.

Courtney took it, and hesitantly turned it over, hoping that was what Carly wanted. At this point, she didn't really care about the wedding. But, still, the dress took her breath away. It was elegant and fancy at the same time, absolutely beautiful. She'd always dreamed of what it would be like to be Cinderella. She had finally found her Prince Charming, not some cheap imitation like AJ, and she could not wait to wed him. "Oh, Carly, it's beautiful," she breathed.

Carly laughed, wiping her nose. "You know, I tried to show it to Sonny, but he wouldn't let me. He said that maybe you wanted to pick out your own dress. And you know what? Now it doesn't even matter, because Sonny's gone and God knows where Jason is and there's not even going to be a wedding."

The brief joy that had filled her heart melted away as the full impact of Carly's words hit her. "You're right," Courtney said very quietly. Her dream day was just that—a dream. It wasn't going to come true.

"I'm sorry, Courtney. I didn't mean that."

Courtney went to the phone and started to dial a number. "No, you're right. I'll just call and cancel—"

Carly snatched the phone away and hung it up. "_No_."

---------------

Jason stepped off the elevator, avoiding the bustling nurses and doctors as he did so. He looked both ways and spotted his mother seated in the lounge, running her fingers through her hair as she stared down at a plain manila folder with what he recognized as test results.

"Monica," he said, stepping closer, giving her a nod of acknowledgement.

Monica glanced up at him and smiled. It was a weak smile. Something was definitely wrong. "Jason. It's so good to see you."

"Where's Emily?" Jason asked quietly, taking the seat across from her.

Monica drew in a deep shaky breath. "I'm not sure how to tell you this."

"Just say it."

Monica took a deep breath and let it out as she said her daughter's name. "Emily...has breast cancer."

Jason didn't say anything. He just listened, quietly, intently, just waiting for her to get it all out without a single interruption. She explained how this had come about, how Emily had found out, what treatments she had undergone, how the chemo wasn't working, that Emily had to be placed into isolation because of her deteriorating white blood cell count, and that Emily had asked for him. Jason should have known something was wrong. Every time he'd seen his sister, she'd looked sadder, like she was trying to hide something and that was eating away at her.

And there was nothing he could do about it. This thing was inside Emily. He couldn't just shoot somebody and make it go away. Emily had to deal with this on her own. He couldn't just trade places with her. All he could do was be there for her, whenever she needed it, do anything she needed done. He should've been there for her like that from the day she came back. But there was too much going on. He could be here for her now, though, and he would. There was no way he was letting her go through this alone.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Go see her," Monica replied. "Room 503."

He nodded and got up, started to walk away.

"And Jason?"

He stopped, turned, listened. "Stay close, okay? If anything changes, anything at all, I'll call you."

He nodded again and left.

--------------

"Look, I love Emily," Zander began, rather calmly for someone who was _completely_ out of his mind. "I knew something was wrong with her, something other than the drug addiction. What'd I do about it? I criticized the way she was handling it, I got on her case about not sticking with it, I badgered her about why she was pushing me away. Don't you see? I'm the _exact_ wrong thing for Emily right now."

Gia shook her head in utter disbelief, her jaw still several floors below. All this time, Emily had been pushing Zander away in an attempt to protect him. It hadn't worked, and now he was going to try to do the _exact_ same thing. "How is pushing Emily away going to help her get better?"

"She needs to put everything she's got into getting better, and she can't do that if she's stuck with me! I mean, look at me, Gia! I can't even walk!"

Gia shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. People in love were supposed to be there for each other, and Emily and Zander needed each other now more than ever. "Can't you see how _wrong_ this is?"

Zander set his jaw. "I'm doing this with or without you. Are you with me or not?"

Maybe Gia couldn't stop Zander from pushing Emily away. But she sure as hell wasn't going to help him, either. "You need Emily, and Emily needs you. You love each other, and you belong together. I'm sorry, but I can't help you with this."

At that exact moment, someone knocked on the doorway. Gia glanced over. It was Cameron.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said.

"It's okay, I was just leaving," Gia said. She got up and looked Zander straight in the eye. "Think about what I said."

And with those words, she exited his hospital room. Zander didn't see her hover for a moment in the hall. She was better at this Champion of Justice thing than playing Cupid, but she was going to put everything she had into helping Zander and Emily find their way back to each other, back to where they belonged.

---------------

Emily looked around the drab hospital room. It didn't fit the usual definition of drab—it wasn't dark and dank and gray. It was actually bright, and white. _Very_ white. She'd never understood why everything in hospitals had to be so white, from the sparkling floors to the cotton johnnys to the plain ceilings. Even the lights were white. Florescent, so white they were almost blue. They didn't have that warm orange glow that most lightbulbs did. They hurt her eyes.

Someone knocked, and she looked to the door, telling whoever it was to come in. She was so happy to see her brother, even if he was trussed up in own of those dreadful yellowish robes that were supposed to protect her from any germs that might be on him.

"Jason. You came."

"Yeah, I got here as fast as I could." Jason sat on the stool next to her bed. "Monica told me what's going on with you. I want to help."

Emily smiled. "You are."

Jason shook his head. "I haven't done anything."

That was so like Jason. He never seemed to realize how special he was to everyone, and how just having him their could light up certain people's days. It was lighting up hers, melting away some of the harsh lighting and making it more welcoming. "You're here, and that's exactly what I need. I need all the people I love around me, and—and you are," she said, her voice breaking. Zander wasn't with her. He was the one person she loved most of all and he wasn't there and she knew she needed him to get through this.

Jason reached out and brushed a tear off her face. "What's wrong?"

Emily laughed to herself and lied to him. "Nothing."

"Then why are you crying?"

He was so honest, so sincere, she couldn't help being open with him and telling him all her problems. "I, um, I sort of did something really dumb. I—I—Zander's paralyzed, and he was—he was really upset about it and he kept saying that I—I deserved better, that I shouldn't have to stay with someone that can't walk. So I just blurted out that I had breast cancer without even thinking, and I hurt him. I know I hurt him, and it wasn't fair." She looked down at her hands, anywhere but at Jason's intense gaze. She knew Jason would never judge her, but still.

"Zander didn't know?"

She nodded, sniffing as she did so. "I thought I was going to die, and I didn't want to make anyone sad before they had to be, especially Zander, so I kept it a secret from everyone."

"What'd Zander think about this?"

"I—I told him because I had been pushing him away so he wouldn't have to watch me die, and I wanted to make him see that pushing me away wasn't going to do either of us any good, but it didn't work. It did the exact opposite. He doesn't want anything to do with me, Jason."

Jason was quiet for a long moment. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry."

Two ever-so-simple words, delivered with such feeling. "Yeah," Emily said quietly. She was sorry, too. So sorry. About a lot of things. She shook herself out of it. She hadn't called Jason here so she could make him watch her wallow in self-pity. "But that's not the reason I called you here."

"Why did you?"

"It's about Sonny."

Jason sighed. "Look, whatever Elizabeth told you, it's not true. I don't know what happened, or what's going on with her, but Sonny didn't push her. I can promise you that."

Emily shook her head. "No, no, no, no. That's not it. I know Sonny didn't do it. Zander and I figured that out already."

"You figured it out...?"

Oh, Jason mustn't have yet. "Elizabeth said someone pushed her, she didn't say Sonny did, so I think she didn't see who pushed her and just assumed it was Sonny."

Jason nodded, as if someone had just switched on a light in his brain. "Makes sense."

"Zander—he threw me out of his room and after he did I just ran, and I ended up at this deck, Rice Plaza, and I tripped over something. It was Johnny."

Jason sat up straighter, looked at her a little more closely, his full attention on what she had to say.

"He'd been shot. He didn't want me to call for help but I did anyway. And he kept asking me where Sonny was. Do you know what that means?" Jason nodded slowly, but offered no comment. She could tell he did. "What does it mean?"

"Sonny's missing," Jason replied shortly.

Whoa. How did _that_ happen? "Oh my God."

"Yeah, but that helps a lot."

Emily didn't see how, but she knew better than to ask. Jason didn't discuss business with her or anybody, and she wasn't really interested in it. "You should get going," she said. If Sonny was missing, then Jason should be out looking for him, not here holding her hand.

"Look, if you need anything, anything at all, all you have to do is call me."

"I know. See you later, Jase."

Jason stood up and bent down, giving her a hug. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and for the first time since she'd vowed to tell Zander the truth and fight the cancer, she felt like everything would be all right.

---------------

"Come here." Carly guided her sister-in-law to the couch and made her sit down. "You and Jason belong together. You've fought for what you have and you deserve to be happy. Are you going to let whoever took Sonny take that away from you? Huh?"

Courtney shook her head.

"No, I didn't think so."

"Look, Carly, I know you're upset, and I know this is hard, but Jason will find him, okay? You have to trust in that."

Carly sat back, admiring this strong young woman before her. Here Courtney was, just as worried as Carly was, and she was holding it all together, keeping a cool head, and setting Carly straight while she was at it. There was a time when she'd thought no woman would be worthy of Jason. Courtney was. She deserved him, and so much more. "Did you take that pregnancy test?" she asked, suddenly remembering she'd dropped it off and never asked Courtney the outcome.

Courtney bit her lip. "Well..."

It took everything in Carly to wait the two seconds after Courtney trailed off. "Well?" she urged.

"That really doesn't matter right now. You and I need to talk about this dress. You were right, it's absolutely perfect. Isn't that great? As soon as Jason brings Sonny home, you get to tell him 'I told you so.'"

Carly snatched the magazine page away and threw it on the coffee table. "I don't care about the stupid dress! Did you take it or not!"

Courtney smiled. "I took the test..."

"What'd it say? Come on, what'd it say? Tell me!"

"...and I got the results..."

"Tell me! I'm going to die if you don't tell me!"

"...and Jason and I are having a baby." Courtney allowed a full grin to spread across her face.

"Aaaah!" Carly screeched, grabbing Courtney and pulling her into a hug. She could hardly believe it. She was going to be an aunt! Her two best friends in the entire world were going to have a baby. "Oh! I knew it! I knew it!"

---------------

Gia walked down the hall, and out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Emily lying in a hospital bed through the tiny glass window in the swinging door. Frowning, she went to push through, but someone caught her arm.

"You can't go in there," Monica Quartermaine informed her.

"What's wrong with her?"

Monica hesitated.

"Look, I know about her cancer. Zander told me."

Monica seemed to think about it for a moment, and then she nodded, as though she had made up her mind. "The chemotherapy has worn down Emily's immune system. The decomposition is so severe that any trigger, even a common cold, could cause her organs to shut down. She was out earlier tonight without a coat, and the cold weather combined with shock has drastically lowered her body temperature. Without her immune system functioning properly...If we don't get it up..." Monica trailed off, shaking her head.

Gia could hardly believe it. Someone as young and seemingly healthy as Emily, fighting such a horrible battle. Alone. "Does Zander know?"

Monica shook her head.

----------------

"Why didn't you tell us as soon as you found out?" Carly demanded.

Courtney laughed, feeling carefree in spite of the situation. It was amazing how happy just being right could make Carly. Though the fact she was going to be an aunt might have something to do with it... "We were going to, tonight. But, well, Jason and I needed to talk about it a little, and then other...stuff...happened."

"Michael is going to be _thrilled. _I can't wait to tell him. He'll be so happy that this little baby here"—she rubbed her stomach—"is going to have a cousin, a best friend his own age to grow up with. And Sonny. I can't wait for you to tell Sonny. His baby sister is having a baby. Just imag—"

The door opened without a knock and slammed shut. Courtney and Carly both leapt up, Courtney's heart doing a ballet inside her chest at the sight of Jason. She gave him a visual survey from head to toe, taking inventory of possible injuries. She saw none and her heart began to sing as it danced. Jason was okay. Maybe things were going to be okay after all.

Then she saw his face.

Before either of them could ask anything, he spoke. "Johnny was shot at Rice Plaza. Emily found him. He kept asking her where Sonny was. I can't ask him what happened because he's in surgery."

All her hopes went flying out the bulletproof windows. Sonny hadn't just disappeared of his own accord. Someone had been shot. Johnny, the guard whom just hours before she'd been making promise not to tell, who'd been playing along with her in the good-humored way he always did. Her brother could be shot, too. Or worse.

"We didn't find anything at Ric's place, but there's more to it than that. I will tell you when I find out anything else," Jason reached behind him for the door handle, done with the brief update.

"Oh my God," Carly said. "What if he's—what if he's shot?"

Exuberant Carly was replaced with crazy-with-worry Carrly. They needed to fix this before she did something crazy. "Carly, you need to calm down."

"What if they lock him up? He's claustrophobic!"

"Carly, stop it!" Jason said, removing his hand form the door handle. "You need to hold it together right now. I know you're afraid for Sonny but you can't help anyone by panicking or doing anything crazy. You need to be strong right now."

Carly gave Courtney's hand a tight squeeze. "Okay, I can—I can do that."

"I'm going to find him, Carly. I promise." With that, Jason left.

Jason had never broken a promise to her, or to anyone for that matter. Courtney knew he'd come through for Carly, and for her, for himself, and Sonny, too. He always did. His presence, albeit brief, had given her hope and rekindled her belief in him. Everything was going to be okay.

Suddenly, Carly leapt up and went to the phone. "I think I know who took him."

---------------

Great. Just the person he wanted to see right now. His dad, more than likely here to preach advice when he had no right to doling it out at all.

"How are you?" Cameron asked instead.

Zander shrugged with his mouth. "Great, other than being paralyzed."

Cameron was silent for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, and then said something he probably thought would be neutral considered neutral ground. "I saw Emily earlier."

"Yeah? She tell you? We're through."

"She did tell me, and I'm not sure I understand. Things seemed to be going quite well for the two of you last time I saw you."

Zander did the same mouth-shrug. Cameron was the last person he wanted to discuss this with. In fact, he didn't want to discuss it at all. "Things change," he said bluntly, hoping his rude abruptness would chase Cameron away.

"Like what?"

Some people might think Cameron was awfully patient. Zander just thought he didn't know when to quit, when to let things go. "Emily has cancer." He threw it out harshly.

Cameron didn't bat an eyelash. "If that is the case, Emily needs you more now than ever."

Zander rolled his eyes.

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but I assume that Emily wasn't the one to end it. That means it was you. I want to know why."

How many different people did he have to explain himself to? Seething, Zander gave a loud, clipped account of the reasons he had cut things off with Emily. Maybe once, just this once, his dad could see things his way, be on his side.

But no, of course not. "That's Emily's choice, isn't it?"

Zander threw up his hands in disgust.

"I know I don't have any right as a father to tell you what to do, but hear me out. Emily believed in you when no one else would, including your own father. She over looked your failing and your flaws and honored what was good about you. Forgave your mistakes, took you back. She's stood by you countless times. Now I think it's your turn. You may think what your doing is right for Emily, but it's up to her to decide that. If she chooses to stick by you through this, than you can either let her or you can throw up your hands and walk away from her right when she needs you most."

Zander hated to admit it, even to himself, but his father was right. Right about everything except that _walk away_ part. He wasn't walking anywhere. But Emily had always stood by him when no one else would, had always been there when he needed her. And right now, she needed him. She needed someone to lean on to deal with this cancer thing. What he was doing was forcing her to go through it alone right when the last thing she needed was to be alone.

Gia appeared at the door, arms crossed over her chest. "I hope you're pleased with yourself. Emily is in ICU, in isolation, and you aren't there for her."

"Is she all right?"

"No. From what I've heard, her immune system is on the verge of shutting down, thanks in part to the hypothermia she contracted when you chased her out of here!"

Zander could hardly believe it. "I've got to go see her." He thew back the covers and pulled himself up with his arms.

"Alexander! Lie down this instant!"

"Zander, what are you—"

"No! You guys can either get me a wheelchair and take me to Emily, or you can leave! What's it gonna be?"

---------------

"Who are you calling, Carly?" Courtney got up, too.

Instead of answering, Carly held up a finger. "Hey, Marco. I need you to get Faith Roscoe for me. Why? It doesn't matter why! I—"

Terrified, Courtney grabbed the phone. "Marco, hey, don't bother doing any of what Carly just said. She's just really upset and isn't thinking clearly. Hormones, you know?" Courtney hung up, wincing as she did so. _Hormones, you know?_ He was a guy. Of course he didn't know!

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because, it's not going to help to panic right now, all right? So let's just take a step back and think this thing through. We don't know Faith did it. We don't know if anyone did it at all." It wasn't like Jason had never disappeared without warning before. Jason was busy looking for her earlier tonight. Maybe Sonny had gone to take care of something Jason normally would because he couldn't reach him. She felt a pang of guilt at the thought. If something had happened to Sonny, and that was the reason why, then it was her fault. God, why hadn't she taken the guards like she was supposed to?

"You're right," Carly said, much to her surprise, but pure determination was still written all over her face. "But I know how to find out." She grabbed the phone back and began dialing another number.

Courtney groaned inwardly. "Carly..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to have Marco grab anybody. I'm calling Greg."

Greg. She'd heard that name before. Jason had mentioned him once or twice. "He's Sonny's accountant, right?"

"Right," Carly replied. "Hey, Greg, Sonny told me he might be flying to South America tonight," she said into the phone. Courtney marveled at how well Carly delivered the lie. "I was just wondering if he left yet?...Oh, he has?...Oh?..." Carly's expression changed at the next answer. She looked hurt, and more than a little pissed off. "Thanks, Greg." She hung up.

"What's wrong?"

"I lied about South America," Carly said.

"I know you did."

"But Sonny did fly out tonight, to London."

That didn't make any sense. "Why would Sonny go to London without telling you?"

Carly pressed her lips into a flat line, and the two syllables were delivered with a heavy dosage of disdain. _"Brenda."_

---------------

Zander had to see her. He had to apologize. She needed him, and damn it, he was going to be there.

Gia and his father had went along with him, gotten the wheelchair. They were probably too scared of what he'd do if they didn't help him to think twice about doing what he said.

He caught a glimpse of Emily through the window. Her eyes were closed, dark circles under her eyes, her hair a mess, her skin positively ghostly. He could see her shivering under several hospital blankets. He went to push through the door, but Monica grabbed the back of the wheelchair, turned the locking mechanism on the wheels on, and stopped him.

"You can't go in there."

"What do you mean I can't go in there!" he roared. She was going to try to keep him from her.

"You can't go in there," Monica repeated.

Gia and Cameron stood helplessly farther back. "Come on, Zander, let's just go back to your room," Gia tried.

"No! I'm going to see her! You can't stop me!"

He couldn't move the wheels, he couldn't walk, couldn't crawl. So he'd _drag_ himself over that threshold to her bedside. Zander hurled himself onto the floor and began pulling himself toward the door.

Gia, Monica, and Cameron all went after him, hauling him into the wheelchair.

"No! Emily! Let me go!"

"Zander, you can't go in there right now!"

"Let me go! You can't stop me!"

Emily barely shifted in her sleep as they dragged him off down the hall back to his room.

"_Emily...!"_

---------------


	16. Chapter Sixteen

The Fallout

Chapter Sixteen

"Carly?" Courtney called, shutting the door behind her. It'd taken a long time and a spell of dizziness no doubt caused by the fact she was pregnant, but Carly had finally convinced her to go home and get some rest and that she would be fine without her there, so she had, and she felt much better because of it. Amazingly, she hadn't felt sick this morning. At least not sick from the baby. Sick from worrying about Jason...that was another story.

Her sister-in-law came down the stairs, chugging along with far less enthusiasm and sense of destination than usual. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Courtney replied. "Is Michael home yet?"

Carly jerked her thumb behind her. "Yeah, he's upstairs. He wants to know when Sonny's going to be home." Carly laughed a little at that.

Courtney's heart broke for the little boy. She knew what it was like to be left behind. "What'd you tell him?"

"Soon. What am I supposed to tell him?"

Courtney interrupted her before she could go mental like the night before. "You don't know Sonny's with Brenda."

"If he's not with Brenda, then why would he go to London without telling me!"

"I don't know," Courtney admitted. God, this was awful. Suddenly an idea struck her. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? "But I know how to find out," she said with certainty, heading across the hall.

"Where are you going?" Carly called from the doorway.

"I'll be right back!" Courtney called over her shoulder.

---------------

Morning in the panic room. Except you couldn't tell it was morning because there wasn't any light. It was the sunshine coming through the windows on the monitors that gave away it was morning. And the fact Elizabeth was up. She was painting, but he couldn't see what it was.

----------------

Elizabeth frowned at the painting. There was something missing...

Elizabeth squinted at it, and then she saw the problem. The edges she had drawn were to sharp. Biting her lip in concentration and anticipation of the finished product, she dabbed the brush in yellow and then white, mixing the watercolors and then stroking the hardness away. She took a step back and smiled. Much better.

She felt familiar arms encircle her waist and she leaned back into them, smiling. She hadn't heard Ric come up behind her, but she'd been wearing headphones. She pulled them off her ears and turned the volume down.

"Now, this is something I could get used to seeing. My wife, in my shirt, painting in our living room. What are you painting?"

Elizabeth used her body to shield the canvas from his view. "You can't see it yet."

"Why not?" Ric asked playfully, trying to reach behind her and grab the canvas off the easel.

Laughing, she grabbed his arm, trying to hide how sincere she was. "No, Ric. No." He kept teasingly trying to get past her and eventually succeeded, snatching up her painting.

His face changed as soon as he saw what it was, just like she knew it would.

She hadn't been able to sleep, her thoughts lingering on their baby, so she'd thrown back the covers and come downstairs as soon as the sun peaked through their bedroom window. She'd set up her things and started to paint, the only thing that cleared her mind, and she painted the thing most predominately on her mind. The result was a watercolor pastel of a baby wrapped in a pale blanket, being rocked in someone's arms.

She began to explain. "I couldn't get back to sleep and I thought that maybe painting would make me feel better, and I ended up painting our baby, and—"

Ric putted the canvas down and pulled her into his arms. "You don't have to explain, sweetheart. I understand."

"I wish I could just let go of what could have been," she whispered.

"What a lovely morning," Trevor's voice came to them as he strode into the room. "Unbelievable how that sun leaks through the leaves of that oak. What a wondrous tree." He stopped, seeing them pull apart. "I'm terribly sorry. I did not intend to interrupt."

Elizabeth lifted the headphones from around her neck and placed the walkman on the coffee table. "No, it's okay. I need to go wash up anyway. My shift at Kelly's starts in an hour and I don't want to be late." She put a finger covered in dried paint to Ric's lips. "Don't even start."

"I wasn't going to," he said.

"Mmm," she threw over her shoulder. Elizabeth didn't believe him for a second.

As soon as she was gone, Ric shook his head. Elizabeth was doing a good job a holding everything together, but he could see this was tearing her up inside. The painting was proof of that. She was never supposed to feel pain like that. She wasn't supposed to suffer for an instant! And now she was. And it was all Sonny's fault.

The phone rang, and Ric, closer to the desk than his father, answered it. "Hello?"

It was Greg. "The information has been relayed to Mrs. Corinthos."

Ric smiled. Everything was coming together... "Thank you. You will be well-compensated." He hung up, grinning. Time to visit the prisoner.

---------------

Carly paced the living room. Where had Courtney gone? Finally her best friend returned, paper clutched in hand. "What is that?"

"Okay, it's Brenda's address in London. She gave Jason all her information in case of an emergency."

Oh, great. Had Brenda left Sonny the same information?

"I was going to call her, but you know what? I think it'd be better if I saw her in person. Will you be all right alone?"

"I'll be fine, but—" Carly began, but Courtney was already gone.

---------------

"Rise and shine, big brother. I don't suppose you have much interest in the morning paper. After all, you're not in the headlines. No shootings involving you, no waterfront buildings exploding. In fact, your disappearance hasn't even made the news." Ric tossed the paper on the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets, smiling, pleased with himself about something. What was it this time?

Sonny threw Ric another one of his dark looks. And then Trevor and Ric started their back and forth thing. There they were, standing around, making condescending comments about him, underestimating him. _Again_. You'd think they'd've learned they're lesson by now. Then again, maybe not. Ric was a slow learner. Why should his father be any different?

Time for Little Brother to get a wakeup call.

Sonny lunged at Ric, catching the pathetic excuse for a human being completely off guard. Getting kneed in the stomach was a less than pleasant experience, if Sonny remembered correctly. It'd been awhile since he'd gotten the worst of a fight.

Ric made the mistake of shying away. You didn't shy away from a punch. You moved toward it. Took away some of the momentum, plus that way you didn't come off looking weak.

But Ric wouldn't know that because Ric _was_ weak. And he kept forgetting that the fact he so often taunted his brother about was a two-way street: Ric's education was Ivy League; Sonny's was street.

Sonny took Ric down to the floor, the chain and cuffs not helping him much but not causing too much trouble either.

Trevor eventually got brains or a dribble of sense and pulled him off Ric. Sonny tripped over the chain and fell down. He didn't bother trying to get up. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. Now that he had what he wanted, he could concentrate on breathing. Not exactly the easiest thing these days, what with the bruised ribs from the trip down the stairs, coughing, and claustrophobia.

Trevor dragged his son to his feet, and then Ric loomed over Sonny. Or at least he wanted to look like he was looming. But cowards had difficulty giving off that impression.

"You need to learn respect," Ric said through gritted teeth.

Sonny laughed. "What's da matta, little brother? Your old man never teach you how to fight?"

Ric took a step forward, positively enraged, but Trevor dragged him off. "Come along. He is not worth the energy. He will get what he deserves all in good time."

Whatever you say, old man. Sonny watched them leave via Trevor and his remote, taking a few moments to get the coughing under control. Wincing at the pain he'd never let the Lansing see him experiencing, he sat up a little, opening his hands to examine his prize.

Covered with little droplets of blood from his lungs but no doubt still functional, Ric's remote to the panic room door sat in his palm.

Ain't nobody who could pick a pocket better than Sonny Corinthos.

---------------

Zander was fuming mad. Last night they'd dragged him away when Emily needed him most. Now, today, they were running all sorts of tests on him and still forbidding him from seeing Emily. She needed him! He hadn't been there like he should have been, pushing her way in his own stupidity. Now when he'd finally woken up and taken a look at the World Outside Zander's Eyes, they wouldn't let him be there for her. It was infuriating!

There was a knock on the door.

"What?"

Monica hesitatingly stepped into his room. "Zander?"

"Nice of you to show up. I really appreciate the update, you know. Emily could be dying and it took you all day to get over here, but you showed it, which makes everything okay, right?" Zander snapped.

Monica sighed. "Zander, we couldn't let you see Emily last night. She's in isolation for a reason. Her immune system in very weak, and even a common cold could cause serious complications at this point."

"Complications? What kind of complications?"

"She could die," was her blunt reply.

No, that wasn't going to happen. Emily wasn't going to die because she was strong. She'd survived a broken back and a thousand other things; she could survive this.

"I came in to tell you that I've arranged for you to see Emily this afternoon."

So he'd snapped at her when she'd come into give her good news. "Thanks," he said, a little sheepishly.

Monica turned to leave.

"Monica?"

She turned back to him.

"Emily's going to be fine. She's a fighter, you know?"

Monica smiled. "I know."

---------------

The sun was out, the sky was blue, the grass was green, the temperature a bit chilly but not chilly enough to skip the miniskirt and fishnets, and Faith Roscoe couldn't have been in a more blithe mood.

Of course, the weather and her surroundings had nothing to do with it. No, it was the thought of the brothers Corinthos-Lansing that made her so happy.

She gleefully knocked on the door to Ric's new house and waited. Her darling came to door ever so quickly. She knew he'd be happy to see her.

"How's Sonny?" she asked sweetly.

----------------

He had the means to get out of the panic room, but there was still the matter of the cuffs and chain that linked him to the wall. That was one issue that wasn't going to fix itself.

Picking locks was a lot easier than most people thought, if you had the right tools—a good set of lock picks could get through a door in fifteen seconds or less. If you didn't, a paper clip could do the same trick, bent right. Or say a mattress spring.

Only problem with these alternative methods was you needed the patience of a saint. And time. Lots of it. Luckily time wasn't something Sonny would be running out of anytime soon.

---------------

Courtney took a deep breath. This was it; she was here, standing right outside Brenda's London door. It was a beautiful townhouse in an equally lovely neighborhood. For a moment she imagined she and Jason in London, walking down the narrow streets, taking in the old-fashioned houses and each other. With that thought making her heart smile—maybe someday before their baby was born they'd come here—she raised a hand and lifted the knocker.

Once.

Twice.

Then she waited. The seconds seemed like minutes and then the heavy oak door was yanked open and Brenda was standing there.

After a recoil of surprise, she said, "Hi!" with an exclamation point. She was as beautiful as ever, Courtney thought without a hint of jealousy. Her dark waves were pulled back into a loose ponytail, her petite frame clad in casual jeans and a while blouse.

"Hi," Courtney replied somewhat nervously. This was too weird. Suddenly, coming to see Brenda in person didn't seem like such a good idea. What was she supposed to say? "Hi, Brenda, how are you? Oh, by the way, is my brother cheating on his wife, my best friend, with you?"

"What are you doing here?" Brenda said just as perkily as she said everything.

"Um...it's sort of a long story," Courtney offered cautiously, hoping that it would tide Brenda over for now, until she found a subtle way to get the information she needed.

Brenda stepped aside, laughing. "Oh, look at me, leaving a visitor on the doorstep. What's wrong with me? Of course you can come in! Come in."

Courtney followed her through the foyer into the living room, taking in the high ceilings, beautiful woodwork, and huge fireplace. Despite the large amount of space, the place had a cozy feel to it.

"This is a beautiful house," she commented.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? I thought so, too. Would you like some tea? Europeans are always drinking tea."

Courtney smiled. She might as well sit down and stay awhile. "I'd love some."

---------------

"Dr. Quartermaine. Good. I was hoping to find you here."

Monica had just finished closing the door to Zander's room behind her. "Any news on my daughter?"

"We just got the test results back. Perhaps you should take a look." He handed over the file, indicating certain numbers as he explained it aloud. "Our efforts to raise her body temperature aren't doing what they should be doing. She doesn't have any defenses left to raise her body temperature herself. If this doesn't change, it is highly likely she could go into septic shock."

Septic shock. Her daughter's organs could shut down, one by one, slowly cutting off her life. Emily would be aware of it all, her mind in perfect condition as her body failed her. How was she supposed to tell her daughter this?

---------------

Courtney moved around the living room, touching the objects on the mantle. There were no photographs, only tiny baskets, small paintings, and such. Courtney suddenly felt sick. She put a hand to her stomach as Brenda came back into the room, setting down a tray with two dainty china tea cups set on their respective dainty saucers and a plate of tiny sandwiches.

"There's a name for these," Brenda said, referring to the sandwiches, "but I always forget. They're small. Everything in Europe is small." Brenda stirred her tea with the tiny, no doubt silver spoon and then balanced it expertly on the edge of the saucer before taking a sip.

"So..." Courtney began, trying to start conversation, or, more truthfully, trying to stay away from the question she had to ask as long as possible. "You like it here?"

"I like it here. Europe is great. It's pretty..."

Courtney reach for her own cup of tea, but Brenda's fingers closed around her wrist. She looked up in surprise and then saw what Brenda was looking at.

"Is that what I think it is? Is that an engagement ring?" Brenda was grinning from ear to ear, and the smile only got bigger as she talked.

"Um...yes."

"Did Jason give it to you?" Brenda's eyes were positively sparkling.

"Yeah..."

"I'm so happy for you!" Brenda put her tea down and pulled her into an impulsive hug. Courtney couldn't help laughing. "I told him you two should be happy! Jason makes you happy, right?"

Finally, a subject she didn't have to be nervous about. "Yeah, he does."

"Well, you better make Jason happy, too, because he deserves to be happy." Brenda took a sip of her tea and glanced Courtney's way. "Don't tell him I said that."

Courtney merely laughed. Suddenly, a wave of nausea passed over her and she put a hand to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Brenda asked.

"Um...yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Are you sick? You look sick."

Seeing this wasn't going away, she tried to avoid the question. "I'm not sick...exactly."

"How can you not be sick exactly?" Brenda inquired. When Courtney bit her lip and didn't answer, it seemed to dawn on her. "People get sick when they're pregnant. Are you pregnant?"

Slowly, she nodded.

Brenda hugged her again, letting out a high -pitched squeal. God, she was just like a little kid. "I'm so happy for you guys! So, when's the wedding?"

"It's supposed to be next week, I guess."

" 'Supposed to be'? What do you mean 'supposed to be'?"

Courtney exhaled deeply and put her tea cup and saucer down on the tray. It was time to get serious. She faced Brenda and looked her straight in the eye. "That's actually why I'm here."

"What? You think Jason's not going to go through with the wedding because he's going to come running back to me because he's in love with me?" Brenda laughed as she said it, her eyes sparkling with humor. Obviously, that was the most ridiculous thing in the world to her.

And to Courtney, because Brenda drove Jason absolutely nuts. She laughed a bit, because it was funny, but this was serious and she soon sobered up. "Actually, it's not about Jason. It's about Sonny."

Brenda made a face. "Oh. What about Sonny?"

"Have you heard from him lately?"

"No. I haven't heard from anyone from Port Charles since I left Port Charles. Why would I have heard from him?"

Courtney drew in a breath. She could tell Brenda didn't have a clue what was going on. The curiosity in her face couldn't be fake. She decided to come clean with Brenda...sort of. "Sonny's sort of...missing."

"What do you mean 'sort of missing'? How can a person be 'sort of missing'?"

"Not 'sort of.' He is. Missing." Courtney explained to Brenda what they knew, leaving out the part that had brought her to London. On a sudden idea, she told Brenda about Lorenzo Alcazar. It was the perfect excuse for making the trip. "I thought maybe you knew something about Alcazar. I mean, you spent four years with his brother. I could have just called you, but it seemed kind of rude. Calling you out of nowhere to quiz you about the brother of the man who kidnapped you?"

Brenda nodded. "It makes sense. I knew Luis had a brother, but I never actually met him. He liked to keep me out of his business, you know? So you think Lorenzo did something to Sonny?"

Courtney sighed. "We don't know. We're just exploring all our options right now."

---------------

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about my brother. Why would you ask?"

Hmm, why would she ask? Maybe because she'd seen Ric and his father kidnap him. That could be why.

"Ric?" came the voice of his whiny little wanna-be artist wife. "Who's at the door?" She rounded the corner and saw Faith standing there. She rolled her eyes in frustration. "Faith."

"Are you sure you should be up walking around so soon? It might jeopardize your recovery," Faith offered, trying to be nice. Or at least trying to make Ric think she was being nice.

"You know what, Faith? That's enough? You are not welcome here."

"I have to go to work," Elizabeth said, throwing Faith a dubious look. "Are you going to be okay with her?"

Ric nodded. "Don't worry. I'll get rid of her." He kissed her goodbye. Ugh. Sickening. "And, hey, how do you feel about the Port Charles Grill tonight?"

Elizabeth blinked in surprise. "Sounds great, but what's the occasion."

"Oh, I don't know. Moving into this house, celebrating our new life together..."

That seemed to work for Lizzie. She smiled. "Sounds perfect. I'll be there."

Faith watched her leave. What did Ric see in the boring little girl? Shaking her head, she turned back to her man. "I take it your wifey doesn't know you kidnapped your brother."

"Jason and his goons have been here already. I didn't do anything with Sonny. It's nonsense."

Ooo, how she loved a man who lied. Unfortunately, he was going to need to be a _little_ more convincing if he wanted to get out of this alive. She could help him with that. "Jason isn't going to let you live after this. Tell me, what good is revenge if you're _dead_?"

"I ended the vendetta, Faith. Nobody's going to wind up dead."

Oh, she knew him so much _better_ than that. Even before she'd seen it, she had known it wasn't _over_. Revenge as in Ric's blood, as it was in hers. They were compatible. A perfect match. She'd say it was written in the stars but that was far too over-the-top and sappy for something as real as them. "Do you really think you can lie to me? After everything we've been through?"

Ric rolled his eyes. "We worked together, Faith, that's all. You need to get a life."

What was that they said about too much protestation? "Jason Morgan is like a wild animal. A member of his pack is missing and he won't stop until he finds him."

"Have you been watching a few nature shows on cable, Faith?"

Sarcasm, cynicism. Ah, how she loved a man with a warped sense of humor, who said things backwards. "He can smell things, like fear. Wild animals can smell it a mile away. He will be back. I could help you with that. I could distract him." She reached out, running a finger down his chest, remembering the quality time they had spent together.

Ric snatched her hand away. "Look, I don't want your help. You know what? I don't want anything from you at all. When are you going to get that I love Elizabeth? I don't even like you! Leave." He threw her out the door and slammed it behind her.

The indignity! But Faith had a plan. A plan that would _make_ Ric love her.

Rather pleased with herself, she walked off to begin the preparations.

---------------

Magically the time elapses to early evening...

"It was good to see you," Courtney said, smiling at Brenda, who stood in the doorway.

"You take good care of Jason."

Courtney smiled. "I will."

---------------

Faith waited until she saw the Lansings leave for the Port Charles grill. Gleefully, she went to the door, put her bag down, and began picking the lock.

---------------

Sonny sat at the foot of the bed, continuing to work at the lock. This was frustrating as hell. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to the monitors, focused as he was on the task at hands. The Lansings were gone for the evening anyway. But then he heard the door slide open. He dropped the spring before they could see it. Then he saw who his visitor was.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I can see we're feeling confrontational." Faith smirked. She walked over, looked down at him, smirked some more.

Okay, he knew Ric was stupid. You'd have to be an idiot not to have figured that one out. But he hadn't realized just _how_ stupid he was. Letting Faith in on this plan...man. You couldn't get much dumber than that.

She had been holding a sky blue duffle bag. At that point, she dropped it.

"I brought you a present," she said, keeping up that smirk. Maybe her face would get frozen like that. He could say that, but threats mothers used didn't go over big in the gangster world.

"Ain't that sweet?" Sonny said sarcastically.

"You see, if I kill you, Ric will be eternally grateful. He'll leave that boring little waitress and realize I am the only one who can make him happy."

Sonny had never entertained the possibility that someone was more screwed up in the head than Ric. But here was Faith, with her latest obsession she labeled love, and the most twisted train of logic he had ever heard.

"You've got some serious issues."

"Ha ha," Faith said, scrunching one eye up in a disgusted way. "Luckily, one of those issues will soon be eliminated." She leaned closer, as if she were about to tell him some secret. "It's name is"—she hiss-whispered the last part—"Sonny Corinthos." She straightened, an evil sort of smile playing across her mouth.

---------------

"Hi, Emily."

Her daughter opened her eyes. "Hey, Mom."

Monica sucked in a breath. Her girl. Her beautiful Emily. "How are you feeling?"

"Um..." Emily tried. "Well, I've been better."

"I imagine so. Listen, Em. There's something I need to tell you."

Emily waited a moment and then asked, "What?"

So Monica explained to her daughter about how her organs might shut down. "You're going to have to fight, Em. You're going to have to fight harder than you have. I know you will, and I know you're going to win, too."

Emil nodded. "I'm not going to die. I'm not ready to die."

"Good." Monica gave her a hug.

"You know, if there's anything this whole experience has made me realize is that you can't waste time. I mean, look at what I did to Zander. I spent all this time not telling him the truth when if I had from the beginning we would still be together."

What did Emily mean by that? Obviously she and Zander were still together!

"Instead, I pushed him away and I lied to him and he doesn't understand, and I understand that. Why should he forgive me for what I did? I was totally wrong and I took—took—"

Suddenly, Emily's sentence was cut off, and she started jolting violently. It took a moment for Monica to realized what was going on.

Her daughter was having a seizure.

--------------

Faith had gone off to a corner with her duffle bag. "What are you doing?"

She dumped the contents of her bag on the floor and quickly backed away from it. Once she was out of range, she pointed to it. "That is a rattlesnake," she said a little too happily. "It identifies its prey with special sensors. It can detect your body heat." Faith leaned over him, one hand behind her back, the other stroking his hair. "You can't hide from it. Anywhere you go, it will find you. I understand all it takes is one bite and then you die. But first you suffer. The pain is _unbearable_. Only you have to bear it, because you don't _die_ right away."

Ah. The snake slithered out of sight under the counter. Great.

Faith bent over and kissed him. "Sweet dreams," she said with a lovely and deadly smile, wiping the traces of her lipstick from his mouth. Then she walked out the open door. She pressed the override button, and it slid closed once again, sealing him in with the snake.

---------------


	17. Chapter Seventeen

The Fallout

Chapter Seventeen

Elizabeth smiled at her husband as he pulled her chair out for her, sweeping her skirt out as he pushed it in. The Port Charles Grill was especially nice tonight, the music soft, lights low, the chatter enjoyable rather than irritating. She adjusted her shawl as her two companions took their seats. It'd been awhile since she'd gotten dressed up, and she liked how her burgundy dress and neatly pinned back curls made her feel pretty. This had been a brilliant idea on Ric's part.

Ric picked up his glass of champagne and held it up. "I'd like to make a toast, if the two of you don't mind."

Quite the contrary, Elizabeth couldn't wait to hear what he had to say. She raised her own glass to meet Ric's and Trevor's at the center of the table.

"To starting over," Ric said, grinning at her.

Elizabeth could toast to that. She and Trevor murmured their agreement and clinked glasses. The champagne tingled on the way down.

---------------

Getting ready to see Emily had been a long process, with all the disinfecting and getting into that ugly yellow robe that was supposed to block germs or something. But in the end, it would all be worth seeing Emily.

She was all he thought about. He worried about her constantly, wondering about her condition, how bad it was, how much pain she was in, how long before she started getting better. Because of course she was going to get better. She was Emily.

"Mr. Smith?" the nurse asked.

He nodded enthusiastically, shaking himself from his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"It's time."

And it was about time.

---------------

"Well, unfortunately I must exit this little party," Trevor said.

Elizabeth looked up in surprise. They had only just finished dinner. "Oh, so soon?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear. I have certain business to take care of." Ric understood this to mean it was time for Trevor to deliver the final installment to Greg, but Elizabeth didn't read any more into it. "Besides," Trevor continued, "the newlyweds should be able to enjoy themselves without the father-in-law lurking nearby."

Elizabeth blushed slightly. "Oh, we don't mind."

"Still, I shall leave you two...to each other." Trevor smiled and walked away, opening the door to head outside. What a nice man.

And then suddenly it came to her. The scene began unfolding in her mind...

Flashback

They were standing by the railing, far away from the stairs on either side of the plaza...

"Ric is no longer a threat to you. You don't have to kill him."

"He told you this, didn't he?"

"It's the truth, Sonny!"

End Flashback

Elizabeth sat up straighter as the memories came back. She clutched the seat of her chair, eyes wide. Ric was by her side in an instant.

"What is it, honey? What's wrong?"

She shook her head slowly, wondering what was bringing this on. "I don't know. I thought I was starting to remember something...about the night Sonny pushed me." But why _now?_

Flashback

"I need your word that he will be safe."

"I can't give you that."

"You know what? You are not God, Sonny. You do not decide who lives and who dies. I stayed with you when Carly lost the baby. You owe me for that. And this is how you will pay me back."

"Your twisted, rapist husband is not a good person, Elizabeth. I will not promise you anything. My debt is paid. Never come to me again." And with that Sonny turned and walked away.

End Flashback

"Oh my God." Her hand went to her mouth. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Sonny hadn't done it. He hadn't pushed her. He couldn't have. He wasn't even _there_.

"Elizabeth. Elizabeth, what's wrong?"

"I remember...I remember what he said to me."

Ric rubbed her arm. "I don't see the significance in that. You already knew that he was furious and yelled at you. Why does it matter exactly what he said?"

"What matters is what he did after that. He walked away, Ric. I watched him. I saw him _leave_." She searched her husband's eyes for a reaction. Would he blame her for this? How could she have been so wrong and not seen it?

Ric didn't seem to understand. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying—God, why couldn't I have remembered before?" Elizabeth put a hand to her head. It was starting to hurt. She'd told Emily off, screamed at her very best friend when she'd tried to make her see the truth. "I'm saying that Sonny didn't push me. He couldn't have. He wasn't even _there_."

"Are you sure about this?"

Elizabeth nodded, ashamed of herself, of how wrong she had been. "I'm _so_ sorry."

Something seemed to dawn on Ric, and his eyes became distant. "Oh, God."

Unable to understand what was wrong, she frowned, trying to reach him with her voice. "Ric?"

"I have to go, now." He got up with no explanation, no nothing. He started running.

"But where—" she began to call after him.

Ric didn't answer her. He was already gone.

---------------

Snakes were one thing Sonny knew next to nothing about. You didn't run into many snakes on the mean streets of Brooklyn. The human kind, sure. Hustlers, dealers, streetwalkers, an ensemble cast of other riffraff that you'd think were just as deadly as any ol' rattlesnake. But real snakes? Uhn-uh. He _did_ know rattlesnakes were supposed to rattle. The silence in the panic room resounded. He hadn't a clue where the snake was or where it would come at him from.

So he kept at the lock. The thought of dying with Faith's kiss on his lips was one hell of a motivation. Dying period was another. Before he'd had the rest of his life or at least until Ric found out his magic key to the panic room was missing to pick it. Now he was on a limited time schedule.

Sonny had never really thought much about dying. He knew that he would, that many times he should have, and that when he finally did, he'd go straight to hell because that was what he deserved. Not detours, no pit stops, do not pass GO. When Lily and his unborn child had been killed seven years ago, he knew it should have been him, that he should have at least gone _with_ them. For a long time afterwards, he'd wished that he had died that day, that he was dead, and had self-destructed.

Then Carly had come crashing into his life. And crash she did.

She was like the thunder that brought the storm. She took chances, didn't think about the consequences, drove him crazy and somehow kept him sane at the same time. She made a lot of mistakes, formulated a lot of plans that blew up in her face. But as many things as she got wrong, she got right, and her heart was always in the right place. When he'd been shot, he hadn't been afraid of dying. All he'd been thinking about was that he had never told Carly he loved her, and he needed her to know. He'd fought his way back to her, back to Michael, just as hard as she'd fought for him. He hadn't been ready to leave them. He didn't know if he ever would.

Not today, that was for sure.

But he wasn't going to beg. He wasn't weak, like Ric. He could accept what he deserved, and he deserved to die. If this was his time, he was going to suck it up and go.

He heard the rattle.

--------------

Trevor passed the accountant the sizable bundle. They stood at the corner of the docks, each with their backs to adjacent walls and not looking at each other. If anyone should see them together, it would appear to be a coincidence, not a meeting.

"The final installment," he said, "thus terminating our business relationship."

"Working with you has been quite profitable," Greg commented, opening the package and leafing through the money.

"For both of us," Trevor replied with a smile, clapping the younger man on the back as he left. No sooner had Greg rounded the corner than Ric came charging down the steps.

"Sonny didn't do it," he said, gasping for breath.

Trevor didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"Elizabeth remembered. Sonny didn't push her."

Damn it. He should have known.

---------------

As soon as he saw Monica lingering by Emily's door, staring worriedly through the pane of glass, he knew something was wrong. He couldn't even see Emily, the angle from his wheelchair not exactly the right one to see into the room.

"Monica?" he asked, heart jumping into his throat. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Zander. I'm afraid Emily has taken a turn for the worse."

No, it couldn't be. What Monica had told him, about her organs shutting down one by one, that was just a worst-case scenario. It wasn't true because worst-case couldn't happen to someone as optimistic, as full of life as his Emily. "What does that mean?" he asked fearfully.

"Well, I was in with her earlier, and she—she had a seizure. She should have woken up long before now. I'm afraid...I'm afraid she's slipped into a coma."

Emily. Coma. The two words just didn't mesh.

He swallowed hard. "Can I see her?"

Monica nodded, stepping aside. "Of course."

Taking a deep breath, he pushed through the door and wheeled himself inside to sit beside the love of his life, who was likely dying before his very eyes.

---------------

Elizabeth stuck her key in the door and let herself in. "Ric?" she called. "Trevor?" When she got no answer, she figured she was home alone. She sighed. Where had Ric _gone_?

She felt absolutely awful, physically and emotionally. Her head ached, she was cold, and she felt terrible about what she had said to Emily. She was going to have to fix it. First thing tomorrow she was going to track down her best friend and apologize profusely, offer to buy them chocolate milkshakes, the ultimate thing to make up over.

She ran her hands through her hair and got up to retrieve a blanket from the top of one of the bookcases. Rolling it into a ball, she ran a finger along the spines of the leather-bound books. They were mostly on trees, a shared interest of her husband and father-in-law. Maybe she should have a look and see what interested them about them so...

She dug a fingernail into the binding of the one farthest on the right and was about to yank it free when her eyes fell on the oddest sight. Tucked away in the corner of the bookcase was a raised white button.

Hmm. What's this? she wondered.

The only way to find out was to press it, which after a moment of speculation—what if it did something bad?—she did.

At first it didn't seem like it did anything. She frowned. Well, that was a waste of time. Who would put a button, let alone one that didn't _do_ anything, of the inside of a bookcase anyway? Shaking her head, she rose.

And that's when she saw the opening in the wall.

Elizabeth nearly fell over in shock. There was a secret room attached to their _living room?_ Uh uh, no way. This was a normal home, not some gothic mansion like Wyndemere or the Bat Cave.

Hardly able to believe what she was seeing, she put her blanket down and walked toward it, half afraid of what she might find. This was a normal house, she reminded herself again, not Wyndemere. She wasn't going to find any skeletons or...or dead undercover police officers stored in a freezer. She probably wasn't going to find anything at all.

Was that Ric sitting by the table? Hadn't he heard her come in? "Ric?" she tried, completely confused. Why didn't he answer her?

"Ric?" she asked again, to the response of silence. Why wasn't he answering her? What was this room? Why was it here? She had so many questions, and she needed answers. She took a step closer.

That's when she locked eyes with the snake, slithering over who she thought was her husband's arm. Her eyes grew wide and she didn't even have a change to shriek before it lunged at her.

--------------


	18. Chapter Eighteen

The Fallout

Chapter Eighteen

Jason stood over Johnny. The bodyguard had made it through surgery and the police interrogations and Jason was finally going to get the answers he wanted. He hoped.

"So what happened?" Jason asked, getting straight to the point.

"The boss and I were climbing the stairs. Someone came out from behind the pillar and shot me before I could get to my gun."

"Did you see who it was?"

"I never saw him before, and I didn't get a good look."

"Why were you at Rice Plaza?" It was a long shot, Jason knew, but he might as well ask anyway, cover all the bases.

Johnny shrugged, which Jason guessed meant Sonny hadn't told him.

"Anything else you remember?"

"Between the time I got shot and when your sister found me, nothing."

Jason stood there for a moment, contemplating it. If it wasn't Ric, and he wasn't at all convinced it wasn't, there were still two other possibilities: Faith and Alcazar. Faith he wasn't sure about. They'd almost killed her, spared her at the last minute. If she had Sonny, she'd be gloating by now. Besides, she didn't have the resources or the manpower. Alcazar, however...

"All right," he said at last, turning to go.

"I hope you find him."

Jason nodded. So did he.

---------------

Zander gazed at Emily's face, determined to memorize her every feature. She was beautiful. Her skin was deathly pale, but in his mind, it was porcelain. Her hair hung lifelessly, but it was still as soft as the finest silk. And her eyes, even though they weren't open right now, he knew they were as bright as ever. And they were filled at love. Love for him.

He took her hand. They said that sometimes people in comas could hear. He just had to talk to her.

--------------------------------------------------------------  
Baby's black balloon makes her fly  
I almost fell into that hole in your life  
And you're not thinking about tomorrow  
'Cause you were the same as me...but on your knees...  
--------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Emily. Your mom tells me you're in a coma and you might not wake up, but I know better, okay? I know you're strong. I mean, if you're strong enough to stick by me, the biggest jerk in the universe, then you're strong enough to beat anything, even cancer, right?" Zander chuckled at his own joke, even though it wasn't really a joke. It was him trying to convince himself that the worst-case scenario wasn't going to come true. Because he needed her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------  
A thousand other boys could never reach you  
How could I have been the one?  
I saw the world spin beneath you  
And scatter like ice from the spoon that was your womb...  
-----------------------------------------------------------------

"You need to pull through this, Em," he said, his voice desperate, holding onto her hand as if it were a lifeline.

-----------------------------------------  
Coming down the world turned over  
And angel fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
Or are you someone's prayer...?  
-----------------------------------------

"You've been everything to me. You've stood by me through all sorts of things even when people were telling you I wasn't worth it. You know what? They were right."

--------------------------------------  
And there's no time left for losing  
When you stand they fall and...  
--------------------------------------

"But I've changed now. I tried to push you away because I thought it was what was best for you. I didn't stop to think about what you needed. But I have now, and I swear, I'm going to be worthy of you this time around. I'm going to give you everything. I'm going to give you strength when you're scared, comfort when you're in pain. I'm gonna listen when you talk, and I'll shut up when you just want to hear your own thoughts." He smiled at the last part.

----------------------------------------  
Coming down the years turn over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I'll go on to bring you home  
All because I'm  
All because I'm...  
----------------------------------------

The seriousness was back. For the first time he could remember, he begged, pleaded in earnest. "Please, Emily. Give me another chance. Let me make things right between us. Let me—let me be everything to you that you've always been for me."

-----------------------------------------------  
And I'll become what you became to me...  
-----------------------------------------------

---------------

Jason hunched behind the crates, flexing his leather-gloved hands. He'd been waiting for about an hour now, and the guy he was waiting for had yet to show up. But if he waited long enough, he would. He had a feeling that this guy didn't really care whether they said it was okay to deal drugs in Sonny's territory or not. He was going to come down here to oversee the arrival of a shipment sooner or later. If the information from Myer and Roy Dilucca was correct, then it was going to be sooner. As in tonight.

Footsteps on the stairs and a peek revealed Myer and Roy to both be reliable sources.

In one quick move, Jason was out from behind the crate, pinning Lorenzo Alcazar against the wall. He didn't have to hold back this time. He could snap his neck if he wanted to. And he wanted to. So Alcazar hadn't kidnapped Courtney. He'd gone near her. And Alcazar had no business going near Courtney or anyone else in his family.

"Where's Sonny?" he asked simply.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You better get an idea or I'll snap your neck." It wasn't a threat. It was the truth. Alcazar had put the people he loved in danger more than once, and he was going to pay for it. Now would be nice.

"Is Corinthos missing?"

Asking the obvious. An evasion tactic if Jason had ever seen one. "Answer the question."

"Whatever happened to Corinthos, I had nothing to do with it. What would it gain me?"

"Free reign."

"To do what?"

"Move drugs."

"I want to do business with you. How would it be good business relations to kidnap the man I want to work with?"

Had a point there. It wasn't exactly the best way to go about negotiations. Not that there would be any negotiating.

"I want to make money," Alcazar continued, "not commit suicide. Unlike my brother, I intend to live a long, long time."

Good for him. Unfortunately for Alcazar, if Jason got his way, that's not the way things would go. He released Alcazar for the time being and walked away.

---------------

It took a minute for Zander to figure out that it was the door to Emily's room that someone was knocking on, not someone else's.

"Yeah?" he said, not taking his eyes from Emily's face for a moment.

"Mr. Smith."

Zander recognized the voice from when he'd worked for Sonny. What did Johnny want? He turned around to ask, but changed his question when he saw Johnny with a cane. "What happened to you?"

"I got shot."

Ah, that'd explain it. Seemed to be a lot of that going around.

"I'm here to see Emily."

Zander frowned. Yeah, Johnny had guarded Emily a few times during the Sorel trial. But he didn't know her well enough to come see her. At least, Zander didn't think so. "You hardly know Emily. Why would you come see her?"

"She found me. She saved my life."

Zander looked at the unconscious Emily, surprised. She hadn't told him about that. But why would she? If it'd happened after she'd thrown him out or before, she wouldn't have had the chance because he was too busy being a selfish jerk to let her get a word in edgewise. "Uh, okay, sure. She's in a coma, but she, you know, might be able to hear you."

Johnny stepped forward. Ms. Quartermaine wasn't looking like her usual vibrant self. All the times he'd seen her when she came by to see Jason, she'd been bouncy, buoyant, full of life. Not so now. He didn't like seeing her like this. He spoke more lowly than usual, more quietly so Zander wouldn't overhear. "You need to pull through this. You have all these people around you who love you, who are pulling for you. They need you. You can't die. I need to thank you." He straightened, nodded to Zander on the way out. "I hope she gets better soon."

Zander nodded. "Yeah, me, too." With those words, he wheeled back to her bed and continued his vigil by his beloved Emily's side. He wasn't going to fail her. She needed him, and this time he was going to be there for her.

Till the very end, if it turns out that way, he promised silently.

--------------

"Elizabeth!"

He'd waited a split second too long to shout the warning. What was with this snake? It'd taken its sweet time deciding whether or not it was going to bite him, and then it sprang at Elizabeth first chance it got.

The scream finally came as Elizabeth leapt away. She was in her studio again, the snake Faith had planted lunging at her when she lifted the pillow from it. Except this time, she grasped for something to hold onto as she fell.

And she found it.

Elizabeth grabbed onto his arm, pulling them both down but at least they were clear of the snake. It'd missed.

This time.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Elizabeth said over and over again, her eyes wide with horror. There was a _snake_ in the secret room? "Is it poisonous?" she asked through a scream. She hated snakes.

"Well, that's what Faith said," Sonny replied. How dependable was Faith? Not very, but you could trust that when she said she meant to kill you, she meant to kill you.

That didn't quite register with Elizabeth. Nothing was registering, not the reason Sonny was here, not what he'd said about Faith. All that was registering was the snake, which was rising up, getting ready for another strike. Elizabeth scrambled to her feet.

"Eliza—" Sonny tried to stop her, but she was way too panicked for that.

She ran screaming out of the room, her shrieks echoing throughout the empty house. She needed to do something about the snake. It was poisonous. It'd bite one of them. She had to stop it. Those were the only coherent thoughts racing through her mind. She looked around franticly for anything she could use. She tore a pillow off the couch and went back, wildly whacking at the snake. She smacked it in the head, and it lunged at her.

Elizabeth cried out as the snake buried its fangs in her pillow. She yanked it away and ran from the panic room again, flinging the torn pillow aside, snatching up her blanket. She threw it over the snake and grappled one of the luggage bags off the stands, unzipping it with shaking fingers and struggling with the blanket-cocoon of snake to get it in the bag. Her goal accomplished, she zipped it back up, locking the snake away.

Safe at last, she collapsed on the floor, running her hands through her hair. Whatever it was, adrenaline, panic, that had fueled her was gone. She'd fled and she'd fought and she was done.

Then something else occurred to her and she whirled around. "Did it bite you?"

Sonny stared at her. She couldn't really blame him, she was acting a little bit like a crazy woman.

"Sonny, did it bite you?"

"No. I'm fine, I'm fine. That was, uh...you did a good job."

Elizabeth offered a weak smile, and then it hit her. She was talking to Sonny. Sonny was missing. _Oh my God._ Maybe she was just leaping to conclusions. She did that often enough. Maybe she was rushing to judge Ric, which was just wrong. She was only thinking of this because of all the awful things he'd done before. But he'd _changed. _Still, she had to ask. "Did Ric do this?"

Sonny just looked at her, and that was as good an answer as any.

"Oh, God," she said, drawing her knees up to her chin. How could she have been so blind? How could she have not even suspected? She lived in the same house with this man, she slept in the same_ bed_ as he did, and she'd never even _imagined_ he'd been the one who'd taken Sonny. She'd believed every single word that came out of his mouth, knowing he had lied to her before. She'd believed him when he said his revenge against Sonny would be completely legal. All this time, she'd been too busy defending Ric to everyone—Sonny, Carly, Courtney, Jason—to see what was right in front of her face. The worst part? She could understand why he did it. This was all her fault. This had all happened because she'd remembered wrong and she'd jumped to conclusions like she always did. Why hadn't she listened? Her best friend hadn't even believed her!

"He did it because of me," Elizabeth whispered, feeling like someone had jabbed a knife into her heart and started twisting it. Her eyes stung with the tears threatening to fall.

---------------

Ric hadn't gotten anything from his father, except a slightly peeved expression. "Dad, did you hear me? Sonny didn't push Elizabeth!"

"I heard you," Trevor replied flatly.

Okay, shouldn't Trevor be giving him a bit more of a reaction? Sure, his dad was reserved, but not this reserved. "You do realize what this means, don't you?" Ric tried again, wanting to make sure his father understood all the implications.

"Something he didn't even do? You don't think he deserved it for all the things he has done!" Trevor snapped.

"Okay, maybe you're right. But we need to do something, Dad, before Elizabeth finds out. She remembered and she's not going to forgive me if she finds out, okay? She's better than that."

Here it was. The golden opportunity for revenge that he had been waiting to arise for thirty-four years. Ric, of course, did not understand the depth of his hatred for Adele's son. It went far beyond anything Ric felt. All these years, he had been keeping certain decisions and events from the past from Ric, lying to further his own purposes—the ultimate purpose being Ric disposing of Sonny, leaving Trevor's hands clean. Ah, yes, it was cruel. But the Lansing weren't anything if they were not shrewd when it came to self-preservation.

Self-preservation. That was what he had had in mind when he tried to convince Adele to give up her dangerous son...who was in fact not at all dangerous. Not at that time. Not to Adele, at any rate. To Trevor and Ric, he was a dire threat, for Adele was entirely too attached to him, to her first husband. Trevor had always suspected Adele was still in love with Corbin. Sonny was a constant reminder of him. He would have done anything to be rid of the boy, to make a family with Adele without any past baggage.

The unfortunate incident with the stairs had given him an excuse. He had twisted the actual event, presenting it to Adele as not an accident, but something intentional, forcing her to make a decision—he would not subject his child the kind of danger Sonny presented. She had to choose.

She made the wrong choice. She decided to abandon Trevor and Ric instead of her first son. And she and that son paid for it. Dearly.

Deke Woods. That name, the thought of the man should disgust him. A wife-beater, a child abuser.

And yet it didn't. Adele had brought Deke upon herself by choosing Sonny, and Sonny? Sonny deserved it. And more. Which he was receiving and would continue to receive. Deke had put Adele in the hospital, and she had refused to press charges. Trevor thanked him for it. He could twist the story and make it Sonny's doing, and then tell his story to his son, who would get him his revenge.

Some would call the logic in that twisted, and would be quite disgusted that he had left the woman he claimed to love and a defenseless boy in such a predicament. Ric certainly would. Alas, most of society did not think as practically as the Lansings. Or at least all the generations of Lansing before Ric.

Perhaps he was selling his son too short, but there were plenty of past examples of wondrous, vengeful things Ric did not follow through on despite his father's encouragement. It was time to put his son to the ultimate test. "Whatever are you going to do?" he asked, smoothly as ever.

"What do you mean what am I going to do?" Ric looked honestly confused.

"You have a choice, my boy. If you allow your brother to live, Elizabeth will discover the nasty truth about you."

Ric shook his head. That wasn't an option. His father knew it wasn't an option. His father knew it wasn't going to happen. "No, no. Elizabeth will understand. I did this for her. I did all of this for her."

"That is certainly justifiable to me, but as you have pointed out on several occasions, Elizabeth is better than us. The other option, option B...if you don't, Elizabeth will never know."

"She'll never know," Ric repeated, actually thinking about it. A blissful life with his bride, a world free of Sonny Corinthos...Ric backed away, shaking his head, horrified over what he'd just considered. "I can't do it."

Trevor bristles. Thirty-four years he had waited for this moment, so his son could get cold feet? "What do you mean you can't do it?"

"I mean just what I said, I can't do it! I can't just shoot somebody and not have any reservations about it! You're confusing me with my brother."

He should have known. Ric could be quite disappointing at time. "This is why I intervened. I knew that when it came down to the defining moment, you would shy away! You always do. I'll do it myself!"

Ric shook his head. "No, you won't. I'm going to go to the panic room and I'll—I'll explain everything to Sonny. I'll make him understand why I thought I had to do what I did and he won't tell Elizabeth."

Trevor burst out laughing at the absurdity of this.

Ric, jammed his hand in his pocket, intending to come out with the remote and shout something convincing. He began to frown, patting his pockets, searching for something that wasn't there. He looked up, suddenly alarmed. "It's gone."

"Whatever do you mean?" Trevor inquired.

"The remote to the panic room. It's gone."

Trevor and Ric stared at each other, the same silent thought passing between them for their own separate reasons. _What if Elizabeth finds it?_ Without a word, they tore off towards home.

---------------

Sonny wasn't good at the sympathetic, understanding thing, so he settled for the truth. "It's not your fault."

"How can you say that? He kidnapped you because of _me! _Because I was stupid and I told him something that wasn't true!"

What was she talking about? Ric had done this because of what he thought Sonny had done to her. Which Sonny might have done to her. He was still trying to figure that one out. And he'd ask her what she remembered. Sometime. Not right now. Right now, they had to get out of there. He didn't think Ric would hurt Elizabeth, but Trevor was a bit of a wild card. He hadn't a clue what daddy dearest would do. "Okay, you know what? We need to get out of here before Ric and Trevor get back."

"Wait, wait, wait. _Trevor's_ involved? Do you have any idea how stupid I feel right now?" And then she realized something else. "He's working with Faith, isn't he?" she asked, referring to Ric. "She came by earlier."

"Yeah, I heard."

Elizabeth noticed the monitors for the first time and felt the floor, as solid as it was, fall out from under her. Of course he'd heard. And he would have heard every lie she'd bought into.

"Maybe I should call 911—" she began to suggest.

"No. You need to call Jason."

Jason. Yeah, Jason. That made a lot more sense. After all, if she called 911 then Ric would go to jail and she couldn't let that happen. She loved him. He'd only done this for her because of her mistake, and it was wrong. She didn't know if she could forgive him, if she could forgive herself...

She started dialing the number to his penthouse. "Where are the keys to these?" she asked, looking at the cuffs more closely as she waited for Jason to pick up. On the other end of the line, the phone was ringing in an empty penthouse.

"Ric has them, maybe Trevor."

"Damn."

Maybe not, Sonny thought as he caught a glimpse of something in the normal light leaking into the panic room. He leaned closer to examine her head and could hardly believe his luck. Thank God for small favors. "Gimme that."

Elizabeth's hand went to her hair as her forehead creased into a frown. What was he talking about? She pulled a pin out, releasing a curl. "What? This?" Still ringing...

"Yeah, that." Sonny took the hairpin from her and unbent it, starting to work at the lock again. This just might work. It was narrower than the spring. Maybe it could activate the mechanism.

Finally seeing what he had wanted it for, Elizabeth turned her attention to the phone. _"Leave a message,"_ came Jason's clipped voice over the line._ Damn it_, she swore again, this time to herself. "He's not home. Do you want me to leave a message?"

"No, no, no, that's okay."

"He's probably out looking for you," Elizabeth said, unable to help the slight smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. Jason, whom she'd expressed her eternal hate for, whom she'd thrown out of her life for lying to her, was still the most loyal man she had ever met. And Ric, the man she was supposed to be able to trust in everything, had told her lie after lie and she'd bought every single one of them when _everyone_ warned her better.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind. Ric didn't matter right now. Well, actually he did, but what really mattered was getting away from him. "How long is that going to take?"

She asked it just as he finally heard what he wanted to hear, the most satisfying click in the world. And it was about damn time. "Not long. Let's go."

"Okay."

---------------

Ric and Trevor burst through the door, hoping they were in time. They looked across the living room only to see the panic room gaping open. Ric let out a long, colorful string of expletives before they turned on their heels and raced back out the door.

--------------

Sonny looked down at the water, taking a moment marvel at the freedom, enjoying every breath as if he had been underwater for ages and this was the first time he had broken the surface. Breathing...something it was so easy to take for granted. Something that kept you alive.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Sonny turned back to Elizabeth, who looked worried. "I'm fine. You're, you know, going to need protection," he said, changing the subject. Elizabeth was in danger now. Who knew what Ric and Trevor were capable of.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Ric would never hurt me." Then she changed her mind. "What am I saying? I don't even _know_ Ric."

No, she didn't. "It's Trevor I'm worried about."

She continued shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Trevor's in on it, too. Ric must have called him after I lost the baby. This is all my fault. I remembered wrong."

"You keep saying that, but you don't tell me what you mean. I need to know what you remember about the night that, you know, what happened to you that night."

Elizabeth laughed, "I didn't remember anything. I remembered us fighting, you yelling at me, someone pushing me...I didn't remember that you left."

Sonny stared at her. Could he trust her on that? Had he really left?

"You walked away, and someone pushed me. And I told Ric it was you. But it wasn't. I should have _known_ better. How many times have you helped me out, for no other reason than to be kind?"

So they'd been right. Carly, Courtney, Jason, Zander, Emily, Gia...they'd all been right. "You can't help it if, you know, you couldn't remember. I couldn't either."

Elizabeth tilted her head, giving him a strange expression.

"That's why I came to see you, you know. In the hospital. I wanted you to tell me what had happened."

"And I jumped to conclusions and started throwing things at you. God, I've been such an idiot!"

She was going to drive herself crazy thinking like this. What she needed was a distraction. "You know what? You need to find Jason."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Jason can, you know, take care of everything."

Elizabeth nodded, playing with her hands as if she was nervous. "What are you going to do to Ric?" she finally asked, her voice hesitant.

He was going to tell her that she knew he couldn't discuss that, but she held up her hands.

"You know what? I don't even want to know. You do whatever you need to do." With that, she turned around and began to walk away, but seemed to decide she wasn't quite done. "Sonny?" she asked, still hesitant.

He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know what she was sorry about, but none of it was her fault. If she was sorry about falling for Ric's lies... "Yeah, me, too."

Elizabeth nodded, and walked away. Maybe, now that she had a better idea about who Ric was, she'd begin to figure out who the people she could trust, the people she could depend on, really were. Or maybe not. They'd just have to wait and see.

All right. Time to get out of here. Back to Carly and his family, where he belonged.

"Don't move!"

Sonny whirled around as Ric and Trevor came clattering down the stairs, one after the other, Ric with a gun in hand, trained on him.

"Don't move or I'll shoot you."

---------------

Courtney put a hand on her stomach, smiling as she walked. The flight back to Port Charles had been long and uneventful, which was a good thing. She had good news for Carly, and she had Brenda's blessing to marry Jason. It hadn't even occurred to her that she'd get that, and she hadn't realized she wanted it. Now everyone approved. The Quartermaines—excluding AJ, of course—Mike, Sonny, Brenda...they could get married without any more obstructions by the people they loved.

Obstructions by people who hated the people they loved? Now that was another story.

But she wasn't going to think about that. She was just going to enjoy her walk back to their penthouse and this moment.

---------------

Sonny shook his head, laughing just loud enough to be heard. Did Ric have any idea how threatening he wasn't?

"Shoot him! Elizabeth will never find out if he dies!" Trevor yelled in Ric's ear.

There was nothing Sonny wanted more than to sink these bastards' ship."Elizabeth already knows!" he shouted at Trevor.

Ric shook his head. It couldn't be. Elizabeth didn't know. She didn't have a clue. The only way she was going to find out was from Sonny. "You're a liar. You're lying!"

"I'm lying? _I'm lying?_ You're the one who's been lying to her, Ric!" They were both shouting full-volume.

Ric fired a wild shot over Sonny's shoulder. He didn't even flinch. "Shut up! I'll shoot you, I swear!" He leveled the gun so this time, when he pulled the trigger, the shot would hit the intended target.

---------------

Elizabeth glanced behind her, worried. Was that yelling she heard? A _gunshot? _Maybe she should go back and make sure everything was okay...

---------------

Courtney whirled around. A gunshot? Yelling? Coming from the docks?

---------------

"Go ahead and shoot me! _I'm not afraid of dying!"_

Ric held the gun steady, sparks flying from his eyes. He'd wasted a lot going after revenge for something that hadn't even happened. But he could still salvage the pieces of his life, his relationship with Elizabeth. He pressed down on the trigger...

---------------

"Nooooo!" she screamed, throwing herself between him and Ric.

---------------

Sonny caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. Just a flash before she crashed into him. They both went down and the gunshot rang out, both events happening way to fast for him to figure out if either of them had been hit.

---------------

Ric stared, his mouth hanging open, the gun dangling from his fingers. "Oh my God," he mouthed over and over again, unable to form the sounds in his throat. What had he _done?_

"Give me that." Trevor snatched the gun from his hand before he could say a word of protest.

---------------

Sonny heard him, and he knew what it meant. There was only one escape root. Off the docks, into the water. The currents were strong. He didn't have a clue if Courtney could swim. There was a lot he didn't know about her, and for the first time in a long time he regretted it. But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that they could die.

But there was a margin of error with "could," a chance that it wouldn't happen. Not so for "would." Would was final, permanent. Kind of like death. And if he didn't do this, they would die.

Not much of a choice there. Not any at all, in fact.

He grabbed Courtney and rolled off the docks, into the water.

Swearing, Trevor shot wildly at the surface, hoping to catch Sonny with one of the shots, not caring if he got Courtney, too. Sacrifices of war.

---------------

Elizabeth clamped her hands over her mouth, but even that could not silence her shrill shriek as it sliced the air.

She'd seen it. She'd seen it all. She wasn't dreaming; she was wide awake and experiencing a living, breathing nightmare.

Ric looked her straight in the eyes. And in that moment she could see his soul. It was black, devoid of anything worthwhile. There was no longer any trace of the man she had loved. She wondered if he'd ever really been there at all, or if it'd just been a fantasy she's created in her mind.

Choking on sobs and the terror of it all, Elizabeth bolted. She heard him yelling her name, heard him coming up the steps after her. But it didn't stop her. It made her run faster.

---------------

Song Credit:  
_Song Title:_ Black Balloon  
_Artist:_ Goo Goo Dolls  
_Album:_ Dizzy Up the Girl (c)1998 Warner Brothers Records

Black Balloon Goo Goo Dolls Dizzy Up the Girl (c)1998 Warner Brothers Records 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The Fallout

Chapter Nineteen

Courtney struggled to break through the surface, fighting against the water, against the clothes that were weighing her down. She couldn't believe how cold the water was. It was June. The water had no business being this cold in the middle of June. As she fought against the currents, she vaguely wondered if she would ever be warm again. She forced her stiffening muscles to move, because she had to. She needed to swim. For herself, for Jason's baby.

That's when the pain hit her. White hot fire seared through her shoulder, followed a split second later by the distorted sound of gunshots. She opened her mouth to gasp, and water filled her lungs. She choked on it, and more came gushing in. Despite her best efforts, she felt herself beginning to sink. She fought to hold on, just a little longer.

Just a little longer...

---------------

"Elizabeth!" Ric shouted, running towards the stairs, reaching out to her. Her name echoed across the docks as thunder exploded above and the rain began to fall. There was no reaching her. He'd seen the look in her eyes. The horror, the disgust, the terror, the _fear_. Elizabeth was afraid of him. The last thing he ever wanted. She was afraid.

Trevor latched onto his arm, pulling him back, preventing him from going after her.

Elizabeth Webber-Lansing. A sweet girl, innocent, good. A fine enough daughter-in-law. Now, she was a witness. Trevor shook his head. It was a pity, but he couldn't afford witnesses, not even one who happened to be his son's wife. Elizabeth Webber-Lansing needed to die.

---------------

Elizabeth ran as fast as she could. The rain started to fall, and she slipped repeatedly, falling onto the tar and then picking herself up again, only to run faster. She had to get away. She had no idea how horrible was the thing she was actually running from.

---------------

Jason paused outside Kellys, went to the window and looked inside. The interior was empty save for Penny, who was picking up dirty dishes and placing them in a basin to be washed. Courtney was nowhere in sight. He sighed, ran a hand over his face. He'd been hoping she'd be there, so he could pull her aside, talk to her. He hadn't really seen her, really spoken to her since she'd been kidnapped, and he missed that. He missed her.

"Jason!"

He turned around at the sound of her voice, shaky and frightened, only to see a shivering Elizabeth standing before him, her wet hair hanging limply and tears mixing with the rain that ran down her face. He reached out to her, steadying her. Something was really wrong. He had rarely seen her like this. It didn't matter what she said to him, or what had gone on between them. He would still help her in a heartbeat. "Elizabeth? Are you okay? What happened?"

"He-he-he," Elizabeth tried, but she just couldn't get the words out. There was no way what she had seen was true. Ric wasn't like that. She kept telling herself it wasn't true, that she had been dreaming a vivid dream. But she didn't even need to voice it to know that the thought held no truth. That was why she was here, standing before Jason Morgan, a man she had claimed her hate. A man she'd sworn never to rely on again.

Jason's eyes flashed in anger, but he kept his voice even, calm. Scaring her would do no good. "Did Ric do this to you? Did he hurt you?" She shook her head. "You need to tell me, Elizabeth. You can't keep protecting him."

She shook her head rapidly. "N-no. He didn't—he didn't hurt me. He-he shot at them," she said. She was vaguely aware that she wasn't making much sense. She was hoping that Jason could fill in the blanks like he had been so good at before.

Jason searched her eyes as if he could find the answers in them. "Who did Ric shoot?" Jason felt a trickle of fear slice through him. The people Ric targeted were his family. What if tonight he had targeted one of them with a gun?

"He shot—God, Jason."

Jason continued to hold her steady. "It's okay," he said encouragingly. He had rarely seen her like this upset, and he hoped he never would again.

"I think—I think he shot Courtney." Elizabeth whispered. She was waiting for his reaction. Afraid of it. Afraid for him. Afraid for Courtney. Afraid for herself.

Jason felt his blood run cold at the thought. "Show me where." She would never lead him into a trap. There was no way. Right? No, he was right. She wouldn't do that. No matter what had happened. She grabbed his arm and began to pull him along.

---------------

Sonny hauled Courtney out of the water. They'd made it. They were safe now. He checked her over, looking for any sign of injury. There was a hole in her jacket, the ragged edges tainted crimson. One of them had gotten her after all.

"Sonny..." Courtney's eyes fluttered open. She was struggling to stay awake, to get every word out.

"It's all right, you'll be fine, just hold on. Courtney, hold on. Just—" Her eyelids drooped. "Don't, you need to stay with me right now, all right? I need you to—no, Courtney, keep your eyes open. Listen to me."

"Sonny," Courtney tried again, more desperate this time.

"I'm here, I'm here. You need to stay awake, all right? Concentrate on my voice."

-------------------------------------------  
_Catch me as I fall  
Say you're here and it's all over now...  
_-------------------------------------------

"Promise me…" She was fading fast. He needed to let her say whatever she had to say.

"I'm listening, Courtney. I'm listening."

"Promise me…you'll tell Jason that I...that we love him."

We? The pain must be getting to her head. "No, Courtney, you're going to tell him yourself. You'll be fine." His voice broke.

Courtney grabbed onto him. She was crying now. "Promise me, Sonny. Please, you have to promise me."

"I promise, but you gotta do something for me, all right? You gotta hold on. You gotta stay awake. Can you do that for me, Courtney?"

Her eyes closed.

--------------------------------------------------  
_Speaking to the atmosphere  
No one's here I and I fall into myself  
_--------------------------------------------------

"Courtney? Courtney, wake up. Wake up! Don't—you can't—don't do this to me, Courtney. Now, come on, wake up."

--------------------------------------------------  
_This truth drives me into madness...  
_--------------------------------------------------

"Courtney? _Courtney!_ Wake up! You can't—you can't die on me! _Courtney!_"

---------------

--------------------------------------------------  
_I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away  
If I will it all away...  
If I will it all away  
_--------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth and Jason dashed through the rain, he merely inches behind her, neither knowing that they were racing against time, racing against death...

--------------

She didn't wake up.

--------------------------------------------------  
_Don't turn away  
- (don't give into the pain)  
Don't try to hide  
– (though they're screaming your name)  
Don't close your eyes  
– (God knows what lies behind them)  
Don't turn out the light  
– (never sleep never die...)  
_--------------------------------------------------

Sonny pulled back her jacket and looked at the gunshot wound. Blood that had seeped through her shirt now dyed the puddle around her, running down the street and into the alley.

---------------------------------------------------------------  
_I'm frightened by what I see  
But somehow I know that there's much more to come...  
_---------------------------------------------------------------

"Help! Somebody, I need help! Help me!"

--------------------------------------------------  
_Immobilized by my fear  
And soon to be blinded by tears  
_--------------------------------------------------

Nobody answered his frantic call.

------------------------------------------  
_I can stop the pain if I will it all away  
If I will it all away...  
_------------------------------------------

Courtney's hands were so cold. Sonny pulled her close to him and cradled her in his arms, trying to keep her warm. He looked up at the dark gray sky, ignoring the raindrops that stung his eyes as they came crashing down to the earth as his world came crashing down around him. "You there, God? Can you hear me? Are you going to take her away from me? Is this your way—your way of punishing me? Making me pay for the things I do? For the commandments I break? You going to take an innocent girl who has so much—so much life left to live? Whose only sin was being born my sister and having anything to do with me? You going to take her like you took Lily? Like you took my children? Are you?"

--------------------------------------------------  
_Don't turn away  
- (don't give into the pain)  
Don't try to hide  
– (though they're screaming your name)  
Don't close your eyes  
– (God knows what lies behind them)  
Don't turn out the light  
– (never sleep never die.)  
_--------------------------------------------------

"What about me? You forget about me? Why can't you take me! Why do you keep taking the people I love! Why can't you take me instead!"

Sonny buried his face in Courtney's hair, rocking her back and forth as tears leaked through his tightly closed eyes. "Don't take her from me," he whispered. "These are my sins, and I know I have to pay, so punish me. Send me to hell. Do whatever you want to me, I don't care. But don't—don't take her. She doesn't deserve to die. I'm begging you. Please. Don't take her."

------------------------------------------------------------  
_Fallen angels at my feet  
Whispered voices at my ear  
Death before my eyes  
Lying next to me I fear  
She beckons me shall I give in?  
Upon my end shall I begin  
Forsaking all I've fallen for to rise to meet the end...?  
_------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Song Credit:  
_Song Title: _Whisper  
_Artist:_ Evanescence  
_Album:_ Fallen (c)2003 Wind-Up Records

Whisper Evanescence Fallen (c)2003 Wind-Up Records 


	20. Chapter Twenty

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty

"Courtney!"

Jason didn't say anything as he moved in closer, gently lifting Courtney into his arms. He didn't need to, and Sonny didn't either. There was a lot of blood. Too much? He didn't know. He shrugged out of his jacket and pressed it to the wound. Apply pressure, slow the bleeding.

"It's okay, Courtney, I'm here. You gotta hang on. Just hang on." He tore his eyes from her beautiful face just long enough to indicate who he was speaking to. "Call for help," he told Elizabeth, and then refocused on his love. He took her hand in her free one, hoping that even if she couldn't see him or hear him that she could feel his presence and every single part of him pulling for her, trying to give her the strength to hold out.

---------------

Zander watched Emily. The monitors hadn't shown anything different. She hadn't moved, hadn't spoken, hadn't given any indication that she was going to wake up. But he wasn't giving up on her. Not yet. Not ever.

---------------

Emily awoke, blinking against the bright white light. She frowned, noticing she was lying on a park bench. What an odd place to fall asleep...where was she? Slowly, Emily rose from the bench, turning around, realizing she was in her grandmother's rose garden. She breathed in the aroma of freshly bloomed roses, roses that would not have blossomed until it was much warmer...

Unable to understand it and not really wanting to think about it, she reached out to pluck a rose from the bush before her. Her fingers brushed the stem and then...

"Emily."

She whirled around at the sound of the voice, a voice she knew so well.

---------------

The paramedics had taken over as soon as they arrived on the scene, and they were still very much in control as they pushed Courtney through the emergency room doors and shouting information to the waiting physicians.

"Is she allergic to any medications?" a doctor shot at Jason.

"Not that I know of."

"Has she been drinking?"

Jason was about to say he didn't know, but then he remembered: Courtney was pregnant. He hadn't even thought about the baby, only Courtney. "No."

"Anything else we should know?"

Jason took a deep breath and said the words that still amazed him. "She's pregnant."

"All right, thank you. You can take a seat over there and we'll let you know." The doctor pointed to the waiting area and then left, following the nurses pushing Courtney's gurney into another room.

Jason stood at the door for a long moment, looking through the windows after Courtney, wishing he could be with her and hoping she knew he was there. They rounded a corner, disappearing from sight, and he walked over to the waiting area, feeling as if he was completely detached from his body.

"Courtney's pregnant," Sonny stated after a long silence filled with way too much thought for the both of them.

Jason nodded.

His baby sister was pregnant. Carly had been right. She must have been thrilled. He could just see her, gloating over the fact. He would have thought it was funny, a little irritating, if Courtney wasn't in danger right now. But she was and instead of being what it should be, the thought was filled with sadness.

"When'd you find out?" he asked, more to make sure Jason was still with him in the present than from wanting to know.

"That morning Courtney felt sick, Carly brought her over a test."

Sonny nodded. And that was the last either of them said as the wait began.

----------------

Elizabeth hung back. She was out of place here. She didn't even like Courtney, or at least hadn't allowed herself to like her, and she didn't feel comfortable. Sonny and Jason loved her, and as much as she wanted Courtney to be okay, it just didn't seem right to intrude.

"Elizabeth. Oh my God, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. The blood isn't mine," Elizabeth said, turning to Monica. "It's Courtney."

Monica's eyes widened. "Is she all right?"

"I don't know. They just brought her in and she was bleeding and it's just awful."

"What happened to her?"

"Ric shot her." The words came out of her flatly, cold and unfeeling as she said Ric's name. She was beginning to accept that. This was who Ric really was.

Monica's mouth hung open, working but no sound coming out. "I—I don't know what to say."

"No, you don't have to say anything, really. I know who my husband really is now. A monster." Elizabeth shook herself from the thought, offering the faintest of smiles. "Why did you stop me?"

"I've been trying to reach you for several days, actually. Emily's in the hospital."

Elizabeth's own eyes widened. "Is she all right?"

"No, actually. The chemo has worn down her defenses to a point where her organs can shut down at any time. She's slipped into a coma."

She couldn't believe it. Emily. In a coma. And the last thing she'd said to her was that she couldn't believe she'd ever called her a friend. "Oh my God. I should go see her."

"I think she'd like that."

"Okay." It took until she was a few steps away to realize she could say something. "Monica? I'm sorry."

Monica nodded and Elizabeth went.

---------------

Monica stood a good distance from the waiting area, watching her son. Outwardly, he wasn't showing any sign of this bothering him. But then again, he hadn't show much of anything outwardly since the accident. She knew this had to be tearing him up inside, despite was the doctors had told her and Alan. They were wrong. Jason could feel. Just not towards the people he'd known before. It wasn't much, but it was something.

She was probably one of the last people he wanted to speak to right now. He didn't care about the Quartermaines either way. But if she could do anything, she was going to do it. Because despite of everything he was still her son and whether he was Jason Morgan or Jason Quartermaine, she still loved him. Monica took a deep breath before taking the plunge. But before she could get words out of her open mouth, Jason spotted her and leapt up.

"How is she?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Elizabeth just told me." A sudden thought occurred to her. "But, tell you what. I'll see what I can find out." This was what Jason needed right now. She couldn't be his mother but she could give him information. It was the least she could do.

"Thank you."

She smiled to herself. Jason was thanking her. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

---------------

Elizabeth paused outside the door, taking a deep breath. This was going to be hard. Slowly, she pushed it open, only to see Zander in a wheelchair, holding vigil over Emily's bed.

"Hey," he said, seeing her.

"Hey," Elizabeth replied in a whisper. It was stupid. She shouldn't be whispered. They wanted to wake Emily, not the opposite. "How is she?"

"No change," he replied.

Elizabeth nodded. Her best friend was sickly pale, everything about her lank and lifeless. But the heart monitor beeping steadily promised she was still alive, as did the sound of her breathing.

"I'll give you a minute with her," Zander offered, wheeling out of the room.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said.

When he was gone and the door closed, she lowered herself onto the stool next to Emily's bed.

"Hey, Emily. I'm so sorry about everything I said to you. I was so wrong. You're my best friend and you were just trying to make me see the truth, but I jumped to conclusions like I always do and took it totally the wrong way. But I understand now, Emily. You were right. You need to be okay, okay? I need to apologize to you. I need someone to drink chocolate milkshakes with when my day goes completely wrong. Please, Emily. Hold on." Elizabeth kissed her best friend on the forehead and went into the hall where Zander was waiting.

"She going to be fine," he told her, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"I know," Elizabeth replied. "She has to be."

---------------

Emily could hardly believe who was standing before her. She would have given anything for more time with this person. She said the name, stumbling over it. "M-mom."

Her mother smiled. "I've waited so long for this moment." She held out bother her hands. "Come with me, sweetheart. It is your time."

Emily opened her mouth, unsure of what to say—was she ready for this? Did she have a choice. She slowly raised her arms, reaching out to touch her mother's outstretched hands..

--------------

They both saw Monica at the same time, and jumped up to ask the same question. "How is she?"

Monica took a deep breath. "Well, I'm not the lead physician on Courtney's case, but I figured you'd prefer to hear this from me."

Jason tilted his head to the side. "Hear what?" This wasn't going to be good.

"Courtney has lost a great deal of blood, and for some reason we can't seem to stop it with the traditional methods. She's in shock at the moment, and slightly hypothermic, both circumstances which could be contributing factors. Right now, we're just not sure what the cause is. I'm going to be quite frank with both of you. If we do not stop the flow of blood, she'll die."

The statement didn't work for Sonny. Courtney couldn't die. "There's got to be something you can do about it."

"There is a medication that can help us slow the bleeding. It's experimental, but it's done well in studies. There's a flip side to it, though. Courtney's pregnant, and no studies have been done to determine what effect if any this will have on the fetus."

Sonny glanced at Jason. He was looking at the floor, and he wasn't speaking or giving any sign that he was hearing any of this. "Okay, so if you don't give it to her, she dies, and if you do, she loses her baby."

"There is a possibility."

"I can't do this."

"Sonny, your sister could die."

"It's not—I can't. It's not my decision. Jason, you love my sister and you should be married to her right now." He knew Jason would understand what he was saying. Monica needed Sonny to give permission because he was related to her by blood, but Jason was her husband, or at least should be. Courtney would want Jason to make the decision.

Jason had heard every word, but hadn't said anything. He was standing there, thinking about everything Courtney was. She was everything to him. Her laughter, her smile, her innocence, her strength, her bravery, her vulnerability—they were all real. This baby...this baby wasn't real for him. He couldn't picture it in his mind like she could. He couldn't see what it looked like, imagine what it would feel like, and he couldn't love it because it wasn't there. But Courtney, he could picture her. Every pigment in her eyes, the softness of her skin, the goodness in her heart that shone through no matter what she did.

He couldn't lose that. He wouldn't lose that. Maybe that made him selfish, but he could not give up everything she was. She'd changed his life. Made it better. Filled it with this radiance that had never been there before. She'd done to his penthouse what she'd done to his life—changed it from a place he just stayed every night, made it somewhere he wanted to be. She was the first home he'd had in a long time. The only person who made him think about the future and everything it could bring. She'd changed his whole perspective.

Never before had he thought about the future or looked forward to what was to come. Then she had come along and he was able to picture a future with her. He'd been able to see them spending the rest of their lives together. And like he'd told her, if he lost her he'd spend the rest of his life looking back because being her was something that real, that good.

Once given the opportunity to choose, only a split second passed before he voiced permission. "Do it."

"You have to sign..."

The whole blood relative thing. Sonny nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'll sign whatever you need."

Jason sat down, ran his hands over his face. Courtney couldn't die. She just couldn't.

---------------

Zander dashed down the path, through Lila's rose garden, forgetting that he was not supposed to be able to run, to walk, to even crawl. Something told him that something bad was going to happen, and he had to stop it, and he was running out of time do just that.

As he rounded the corner, he saw what it was. "Emily, don't!" he shouted.

----------------

Carly was seated at the dining room table, flipping through the invitations. It didn't matter to her at the moment. They all looked the same, and all would do just fine. She couldn't bring herself to care.

Rosie was curled up by the fireplace. Carly had cheated, wanting to give Michael something to do, and gotten her from Mrs. LaRosa. They'd chased each other around the living room until they'd worn each other out and then they'd both settled down for naps, Michael upstairs, Rosie downstairs.

Carly checked the clock. It was after midnight. Courtney had called her from the plane hours ago, clearing up the Brenda thing and saying she'd be home in about four hours. She should have been back by now. Now she had two people to worry about, her husband and her surrogate little sister.

She tore her eyes off the clock, looking to the kitchen. She needed a distraction. She could try to cook dinner. Yeah, it'd turn out to be disastrous (in more ways than one) and she couldn't feed it to Rosie let alone a human being, and Sonny would likely kill her twice over when he got home, but, hey.

The phone rang, likely saving her life. She went to get it. "Hello?"

Her mother's voice was on the other end, relating the best and the worst news. "Oh my God. I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone, not bothering to grab her coat and purse and only barely remembering to shout up to Leticia that she was leaving. Rosie barked as she slammed the door behind her and ran to the elevator.

--------------

Jason hadn't thought silence could be so loud. But it was, when it was filled with not knowing and worrying and only hearing yourself think.

"Waiting for word on Courtney Matthews?"

Jason hadn't noticed the nurse's approach until she spoke. He rose quickly. "Yeah, how is she?"

It seemed to take forever for her to say the words. "Ms. Matthews has pulled through surgery."

She was alive. Thank God. "What about the bleeding?"

"The doctors have managed to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet. It's too soon to say for sure, but for the moment the prognosis appears to be good." The nurse gave one of those insincere smiles.

"And the baby?" Sonny asked the question Jason wouldn't.

"It's also too soon to say about that. Dr. Meadows will be examining her as soon as she is fully conscious."

"Can we see her?"

"Yes."

Jason and Sonny started to step way at the same time, but the nurse held Jason back. "I'm sorry, relatives only."

"What? He's her fiancé."

"I'm sorry. It's hospital procedure." She sure didn't sound very sorry.

Jason shook his head. He should have known something like this would happen. He could track down Monica, see if she'd let them bend the rules, because if she said it was okay, no one would argue. Her husband was the Chief of Staff. "No, it's okay. You go. I'll talk to Monica."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

----------------

Courtney's hair was still damp from the rain, and she was much too pale, but she was breathing and the heart monitor was beeping steadily, which Sonny took to be a good sign.

He watched her for awhile, wondering how many times she'd been in the hospital before she came to Port Charles, and how many times she'd been since. He was positive the amount had risen.

He didn't know how long it was, minutes, a half-hour, before Courtney began to stir.

"Hey," he said, resting his chin on his fist and watching her.

Courtney raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light. "Where am I?" she asked, confused.

"You're in the hospital. You—you got shot but you're okay. Jason's right outside, they won't let him in right away," he added quickly, wanting to reassure her, knowing she'd much rather be waking up to find Jason there. "Hospital procedure and all that, you know? You scared us."

Courtney frowned. A flash of memory came to her. "Ric...I remember Ric. He was going to shoot you."

"I'm fine. You saved my life."

She suddenly straightened. Not a good idea. She'd just been shot.

"Hey, you shouldn't be—"

"My baby," she said. "Is my baby all right?"

Sonny winced. He wasn't the one who should be talking to her about this. It was between her and Jason, and she'd take the news better if it came from Jason. She'd get less upset. "You know what, you should rest."

"No, I'm not going to rest until you tell me my baby's okay."

He could tell she meant it. Had to hand it to her, she never backed down. But what the hell was he supposed to tell her? He glanced toward the door. Jason was still nowhere in sight. He was going to have to tell her. "You remember when Carly fell—she fell through the ice, right?"

Courtney made a face, not quite following. "Yeah..."

"And her blood pressure, it kept going up and if they didn't give her the medicine, there was a chance she could have a stroke, right?"

"The medicine would have killed the baby but it turned out she didn't need it," she offered slowly.

"Uh, right. So, uh, the gunshot wound. You were under a lot of stress, you were in shock, and the blood—they couldn't stop the bleeding. So Monica, she said that if they didn't stop the bleeding, you might, you know, and there was this medicine that could help them with that."

Courtney's mind made the leap. He saw it happen. She shook her head slowly, alarm and disbelief and an unbelievable amount of pain filling her eyes. "No."

---------------

"It's against hospital procedure to let anyone outside the family in to see a patient until that patient is stable," Monica was saying, "but I don't see why we can't make an exception. You are her fiancé, and I can't see it doing any harm. I actually think it would do Courtney a world of good."

There was something else Jason wanted, but he wasn't sure about asking it. Maybe he was a little afraid she'd say "no." "Would you—would you come with me, and take a look at her?"

Monica blinked, shocked at the request. "Of course."

---------------

"No, I'm not done—" Sonny began quickly.

Courtney didn't want to give him the chance to explain that what she was thinking might not be the case. It couldn't be true. "No. No! You're lying! My baby's fine! My baby's fine. He's right here, he's right here growing inside me," Courtney said putting a hand on her stomach.

"You gotta listen to me for a second, okay?"

"No, I'm not going to listen!"

---------------

Jason heard Courtney screaming and started running. He already knew what had happened without anyone telling him. Courtney had asked about the baby and without Jason there, Sonny had had to tell her. He burst through the door.

---------------

Carly charged through the emergency room. Never mess with this girl on a mission. "Courtney Matthews?" she asked on of the nurses. Startled, the nurse pointed her in the right direction.

--------------

"Get him away from me! He's lying! He's lying! There's nothing wrong with our baby! It's fine!" Courtney screamed. Jason grabbed onto her, gently, trying to soothe her. Sonny backed away so quickly he almost fell in his haste.

"It's okay, it's okay," Jason told her over and over again, wishing he could make it okay for her.

Carly came in just about that moment, her mouth falling over as she took in everything that was happening. Something was wrong with Jason and Courtney's baby, Jason was trying to comfort Courtney to no avail, Courtney was screaming, her husband was trying to stay out of the way, and Monica was moving very quickly in a corner. She was torn between happiness and pain. Sonny was okay; her two best friends were going through hell. But there wasn't anything she could do for them. They needed each other, not some third party, no matter how much that third party cared for them and their well-being. She want to Sonny, taking his arm just to let him know she was there. He didn't look at her but he held onto her, and she knew he knew it was her.

"No, it's not okay! Stop telling me it's okay! How can you say it's okay!" Courtney screamed.

Monica turned away from her corner, a syringe in hand. She took hold of one of Courtney's arms.

"What is that?" Carly spoke up in alarm. "What are you giving her?"

"It's a sedative," Monica replied, pressing the needle into Courtney's arm and emptying the syringe before anyone could object.

"She doesn't need that," Jason hissed as Courtney began to relax in his arms.

"I'm sorry, but she does. She cannot be this upset right now. It'll only make things worse."

"Our baby..." was the last thing Courtney whispered as the medication took over, dragging her into the realms of unconsciousness.

---------------

An out of breath Zander stood in front of her. "Don't do it, Emily," he pleaded, shaking his head, his eyes begging her not to.

"Zander," she said, dropping her arms and turning to him, somehow not as surprised as she should be to see him here, to see him walking, running, standing.

Zander's hand was before, outstretching, asking her to take it, waiting for her to take it. "Come on, Emily, take my hand. Come with me."

"No, Emily," her mother objected, shaking her head, her hands still held out to her. "Don't listen to him. Come home. This is where you belong."

And then Zander again. "You can't listen to her, Em. This is your past. We're each other's future. We can take on the world together. Just take my hand."

Emily looked from one to the other, her mouth open. Where did she belong?

---------------

Elizabeth stepped out onto the roof and breathed in the fresh air. She had to get out of that hospital and all the potential death that filled it.

Elizabeth looked down at herself. The dress that had made her feel pretty hung limply from her narrow frame, dyed with Courtney's blood. The curls that had so nicely framed her face had long since lost their bend, becoming tangled, damp waves clinging to her very pale face. Blood stuck to her hands, to her fingers, to the wedding band she'd worn for less than a month.

But at the same time she was clean. She was no longer Ric's excuse for all the evil things he did. She was no longer letting him fill her mind with lies about the people she could really trust. She tore the rings from her fingers and threw them off the roof.

She was clean.

---------------

Jason knew what had happened but he asked anyway, and Sonny explained. Jason never took his eyes off Courtney, watching her as she slept. Was she dreaming? If she was, he hoped it was a good dream. She'd been through enough already. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, reassurance he was there and he wasn't going anywhere. Ever.

--------------

Voices were calling out her name...so many voices she knew so well, had heard so often. But she didn't care. She yanked her mind free of the vocal grasps that were trying to drag her back.

Her baby. She had to find her baby.

She walked through the empty corridors of General Hospital, lit by an eerie translucent white light whose source she could not pinpoint. She looked through the small panes of glass in every door she passed. There was no one inside.

Dread gnawed at her heart. It was the same feeling that filled her when she was outside, alone in the dark. That feeling of isolation, and irrational fear of being alone.

She began to move faster, her search becoming more frantic.

And then she caught sight of her. Her beautiful little girl. Courtney stopped halfway past the nursery door. A woman sat in a rocker, gently rocking as she beamed and cooed at the little princess in her arms.

Courtney could hardly catch her breath. Who was this woman? Why was she holding her baby? What did it mean?

Then suddenly, the brunette looked up, so suddenly that Courtney jumped. "Would you like to hold her?" the woman asked.

"Courtney."

She turned around, her heart fluttering as his familiar sapphire eyes caught hers and held them, captivating her.

----------------

"I'm terribly sorry to have to do this, my dear."

Elizabeth whirled around, seeing Trevor standing behind her moving ever closer. Her heart jumped into her throat and began to pound rapidly. She looked around wildly. There was no escape, nowhere to run, no one in range to hear her scream.

"You leave no choice. You have borne witness to far too much."

"You can't do this. Ric will find out!"

"Ah, but he shall not. It will be an unnecessary accident. You were on the roof to catch some air and you slipped, most unfortunately."

Elizabeth glanced behind her, over the cement barrier to the empty air beyond it, her eyes widening as she realized what Trevor intended to do. "No..." she whispered, and then Trevor was grabbing her, lifting her up...

Elizabeth's shriek echoed across the roof.

---------------


	21. Chapter Twenty One

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-One

Emily looked from her mother to Zander, finally making her decision. She stepped away from one of them and let the other put their arms around her...

---------------

He heard the scream from the bottom of the stairs. He didn't realize who it was at first, but he could hear the fear, the pure terror in it, and he knew that this lady was in trouble. He charged up the stairs, taking them three at a time, not just two, and burst on to the roof.

There he saw them. A guy he didn't recognize was lifting her up, about to throw her over the roof, and she was screaming, kicking, clawing, doing everything she could to break free.

"No!" he shouted.

---------------

Jason held out his hand to her. "You need to come with me. You don't belong here."

Courtney shook her head violently, turning away, looking at their baby being rocked in another woman's arms. "No, Jason. I'm not leaving without our baby."

She felt Jason behind her even before he put his hands on her upper arms, sending a shiver down her back. "Please, Courtney," he pleaded quietly.

How could he do this? How could he make her choose where she belonged? She was a mother; this was he baby. That was an indestructible bond that had existed since the beginning of time. And yet, she was also a woman deeply in love. Jason was a part of her life, too. A huge part of it.

"There are people who love you, waiting for you, praying for you. I love you. Don't leave me, Courtney," Jason tried again.

Tears formed behind Courtney's eyes. She looked at her baby. Was she even real? She felt Jason's touch on her arms. God, she loved him. She could never leave him. Slowly, her heart breaking a little more with every motion, she felt herself turning towards him. She'd made her choice.

"Let's go home," Jason whispered, beginning to take her outside.

"Wait!" the woman called.

---------------

Carly had lead her husband out into the waiting area, wanting to give Jason and Courtney their privacy. She had no idea what to do. She had no idea what had happened to Sonny, or how Courtney had been shot, or anything for that matter. She knew she had to do something, say something to keep him with her. She couldn't risk him disappearing inside himself again.

"I know what she meant."

Sonny broke the silence before she did, startling her, and confusing her. "What? Sweetie, what are you talking about?"

"Courtney, she told me to tell Jason something. She told me to tell him that they loved him. I thought she wasn't thinking clearly, you know? But she meant her and the baby."

"Oh," Carly said, not really knowing what else to say. She bit her lip, considering her options. She needed to know. Maybe Sonny needed to tell her, or somebody. It'd keep him talking at least. "H-how did Courtney get shot?" she asked carefully, unsure whether she was treading on stable ground.

He gave her a single name, spoken with all the hatred a single syllable could possess. "Ric."

Carly's eyes widened. This made everything so much worse.

--------------

The shout startled Trevor, making him hesitate in his premeditated actions, giving Lucky enough time to charge forward, one hand latching onto Elizabeth, yanking her from his grasp.

Everything happened so fast. Elizabeth felt a new hand grab onto her, yank her to safety. Suddenly, she was on the ground, her wrist throbbing from being twisted. She looked up and shrieked. Lucky and Trevor were struggling, each trying to get the upper hand in a fight that would send one of them, and possibly Elizabeth depending on the victor, tumbling to their death some 11 stories below.

But Trevor was no match for a kid younger than half his age, let alone Luke Spencer's kid. Lucky twisted away from the railing at the last moment and then Trevor was over it, screaming as he fell.

It didn't even register to Lucky what he had done at first. He went straight to Elizabeth. She was trembling, unable to speak, silently pointing toward the railing. He picked her up off the ground and pulled her into the safety of his arms.

"It's okay now. You're okay. It's okay."

Elizabeth buried her face in his shirt and cried.

---------------

The woman held out the baby. "You can hold her now, you just can't take her home with you quite yet," she said with a smile.

Unsure, Courtney looked to Jason. Then she followed her heart, reached out, took their baby in her arms. It felt so good to right. "Hey baby," she whispered.

"She's beautiful," Jason whispered, standing next to her, touching his little girl's hand.

They stood like that a long moment, and then Courtney knew it was time to go. She sniffed, feeling the tears coming, and gave the baby back to the woman.

"Your baby will always be safe," the woman promised. "Someone will always watch over her."

Courtney smiled even though she was crying. That was exactly what she needed to know. "Thank you."

Jason nodded, and then they turned towards the white light together...

----------------

Beep...beep...beep...(as we return to reality and the heart monitor)

Courtney was just starting to wake up. Jason took a deep breath and greeted her. "Hey."

Courtney didn't react to the greeting. Her eyes were filled with unimaginable sadness. "Is our baby really gone?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

He sighed, and told her the truth. "We don't know."

Confusion lit in Courtney's eyes and she rose slightly. "What?"

"The medication was experimental. The doctors didn't know what effect it would have on the baby, and they still don't."

"So our baby...it could be okay?"

"Yeah, it could."

So that's what Sonny was trying to explain to her. "Oh my God." She fell back against the pillows, covering her face with her hands, a new hope in her soul.

"How are you feeling?"

Courtney tried to think of how to explain the pain of a gunshot. "It burns, you know?"

Jason nodded his head. Yeah, he knew.

A solitary tear trickled down Courtney's cheek. She began to raise her hand to brush it away before he could see it, but he reached out and did the job for her, leaving his hand there, caressing her cheek. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She put her palm over his hand and closed her eyes. "I don't know. It's just--God, I keep thinking about what happened. I remember--I remember Ric holding the gun on Sonny and I--I just remember thinking I had to stop him, you know?" She said it like she was begging him to understand, and he did. And she shivered something, remembering the cold of the water, and the rain..."I couldn't let him shoot. And I just didn't think." Courtney sniffed, looking him right in the eye, as if she was searching for the answer to a painful question. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Jason," she said, as if the answer to that question was supposed to be obvious, "I just risked our child's life. If it were just me, that would be one thing, but I didn't even think of this baby--our baby."

None of that mattered to him. All that mattered was her. That she was hear. Alive. Breathing. Safe. And that's what he told her. A brief silence stretched before Jason found the words to say. He needed her to understand what he'd done. "You know, I was sitting out there, while you were in surgery, and Monica came out and she started telling me all this stuff about how you were bleeding and if you kept bleeding, you would die. And Sonny was asking everything because I couldn't say anything. And Monica was telling us about the medication and how it might do something to the baby, but all I just kept thinking about was that you couldn't die. I kept hearing your voice and I could see you in my head, smiling, laughing, crying, just being you, and I couldn't imagine my life without that. It wasn't something I had to think about, something I needed someone to tell me how to do. I just told her to do it."

Courtney felt as though something deep down in her heart had been touched and that that touch had awakened it. It was rare for Jason to talk for so long, and he was talking about her... "You told Monica to give me the medication?" she asked. Not accusingly, not curiously. She was more surprised.

"Yeah. Sonny just signed the papers."

Courtney let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "God, this sounds so wrong, but I'm--I'm glad it was you."

Jason looked at her, his eyes and the warmth and loving in them saying everything that words alone just couldn't. "So am I," they said.

"Ms. Matthews?"

Courtney looked up to see Dr. Meadows in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," she replied. She really wasn't sure. How were you supposed to feel after you had just been shot and you'd found out your baby might be dead?

"Do you think you're up to an exam?"

Courtney nodded readily. The only thing that would let her rest in peace was knowing that her baby was still growing inside her.

"Mr. Morgan, if you'd wait outside...?"

Jason started to rise, but Courtney's voice, soft as it was, stopped him. "No, I want him to stay." She reached out and took Jason's hand. His eyes asked her if she was sure, and her smile was her answer.

---------------

Emily sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I—I can't. I'm not ready. I belong with Zander."

Her mother smiled understandingly. "I'll be waiting for you."

Emily smiled back, and let Zander begin to walk her away.

"Zander?" her mother's voice made them both turn around.

"You will walk Emily down the aisle, and dance at your wedding," she said.

Emily looked at Zander, her mouth open a little. Zander was going to walk again. He was going to walk her down the aisle. They were going to dance—at their wedding. A grin spread across her face. There was such a thing as happily ever after after all...she and Zander could dance into their future...a future together...

---------------

Zander had been sitting there, watching Emily for what felt like hours. He never got tired of looking at her, but the searching for a movement, some sign, any sign that she was going to awake was getting old.

At first, he wasn't sure he'd seen it. He'd been staring for so long, maybe it was a mistake. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed them, opened them. There, it happened again. He eyelids were fluttering. He lifted himself slightly out of the wheelchair with his arms, eyes wide as he waited for what happened next.

Her beautiful brown eyes opened, and when they caught site of him, a wan smile played across her lips.

"I knew you'd wake up," he said, awed by the life before him. He reached down a kissed her hand, unable to reach her mouth.

"I couldn't leave you," she whispered. "I could never leave you. Not for anything, not ever."

Zander knew every word she spoke was true, because he felt exactly the same way.

---------------

"What are you _doing_ here?" Elizabeth asked, amazed to be alive.

"Monica called me. She told me what happened with Ric and that you could use a friend right now, and Emily isn't available at the moment," Lucky calmly explained.

"You killed him," she said.

"He was going to kill you, Elizabeth. I didn't have a choice. Neither of us did. Who was that guy?"

"Can we go inside, please?" Elizabeth asked shakily.

Curious as he was, Lucky agreed. "Sure."

---------------

Courtney chewed her bottom lip, gripping Jason's hand so tightly she knew she was probably hurting him. She couldn't make herself let go. Jason was all she had to hold on to, her lifeline, her hope. She looked at Dr. Meadows, her eyebrows raised, praying that baby was all right.

"I have good news," Dr. Meadows said after what seemed like hours, a warm smile spreading across her face. "The baby is still inside you, and appears healthy."

Courtney wanted to leap out of bed and jump for joy, but she was laden down with pain and medication. She settled for throwing her arms around Jason's neck, laughing and crying at the same time. Their baby was okay. Jason hugged her back, smiling a little. This was good.

"However..."

Courtney pulled away from Jason, her temporary joy fading somewhat as she waited for the doctor to continue.

"Some complications may not be evident until much later in this pregnancy. We will not what effects if any this medication may have had on the fetus until the ultrasound at six months. You don't need to worry about that just yet. Thus far, your baby appears to be healthy. Right now, you need to relax, and take good care of yourself."

"She will," Jason promised, meaning it. He was going to take the very best care of her.

Dr. Meadows smiled. "Now, I have other patients to attend to. If you need anything, anything at all, I'm only a phone call away."

Courtney whispered her thanks, worn out from the stress now that she knew their baby was okay.

---------------

"What happened? Is she okay?"

"Trevor came after me. He tried to kill me," Elizabeth whispered, looking at someplace in that air instead of Sonny.

Before anyone could inquire further, a familiar, unwelcome voice interrupted them. "Well, I came down here, expecting one of them usual police interrogations. I didn't know I'd also be conducting a homicide investigation!"

Carly turned to Baldwin, one hand on her stomach, the other on her back. "What the hell do you want?"

Scotty ignored her, turning instead to Sonny. "How's your sister? I heard she got shot. It's a real shame. She's such a pretty little thing." He smirked, enjoying every second of grating on the Corinthos's nerves.

Sonny sent a dark look his way. "You_ do not_ want to mess with me right now."

"Which brings me on to another interesting subject. How _did_ your sister get shot?" When an answer wasn't forthcoming, Scotty prodded a little more. "What's the matter, Corinthos? Cat got your tongue?"

Carly held up a hand. "Okay, my family has been through emotional hell. Don't you think you could lay off the questioning until we at least know that Courtney's going to be okay?"

"A little defensive, aren't you, Mrs. C?"

Carly's expression was deadly.

Scotty skipped to the point. "Trevor Lansing was murdered tonight. Taggert and myself"--he gestured to his thus-far silent companion--"we found him on our way in, as a matter of fact."

If Sonny was surprised, he didn't show it, at least not obviously enough for someone as blind as Scotty to see it.

"Would you like to hear my theory?" Scotty asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I wanna hear your theory." _And shove it down your throat until you strangle on it!_ Sonny wisely didn't add that part.

"You see, Ric, you know, what I mean is your brother, _that_ Ric--"

"We know which Ric you're talking about!" Carly snapped.

Scotty held up his hands. "All right, all right, no need to get snippy. No one has seen your brother Ric since around seven o'clock. It's almost as if he's...dropped off the face of the earth. It's no secret you and your brother don't exactly get along. In fact, I've heard rumors that you'd like each other dead."

"I'm sure you have a point, but I'm kind of missing it, if you know what I'm saying."

"Patience is a virtue, don't you know what? Oh, wait. You don't _have_ any virtues."

Sonny and Carly both fixed their eyes on the ceiling, a synchronized eye-roll.

"So, here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that Ric, your brother, he was out for revenge, right? He couldn't get it in the court of law, so he decided to get it his own way, in the form of going after your sister. So he shoots Courtney. You kill Ric, and Ric's father attempts to avenge his son's death, and takes a fall to his death. Is that how it happened?"

Sonny took a step back, shaking his head at the absurdity of it.

"Is that how it happened?" Scotty repeated, shouting victoriously.

"That's _not_ how it happened!" Elizabeth shouted, finding her voice.

Scotty raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, well, well. What have we got here?"

---------------

"Why don't you get some rest?" Jason suggested. "You must be tired, after the surgery and getting shot."

"Yeah, I am tired," Courtney admitted. "Is Sonny around? I really need to apologize for going off on him like that."

Jason smiled. "Sonny is fine. You're always worrying about someone else, and that's one of the things I love most about you, but all that matters is you right now, and you need to get better. If you want, I'll pass on the apology for you."

"I can't shake the feeling of how cold that water was, you know? I keep picturing it. I hear the gunshots over and over again. I keep hearing the voices. It's awful. I'm afraid when I got to sleep, that's what I'm going to dream about. But you--you're a reminder that it's over, and I'm safe. Our baby's safe. I'd like it better if you stayed here with me," Courtney said, smiling shyly.

"Then I will," Jason promised, watching her settle back against the pillows and close her eyes, admiring the miracle which was her being alive. Boiling over with rage at Ric for making her live through that, and for making her afraid.

--------------

"Trevor tried to kill me."

"I walked in on it. They were on the roof, and he was going to throw her over the railing. I grabbed him, we fought, and he went over instead," Lucky explained. He said it matter-of-factly. He didn't regret what he had done.

"Now, why would Trevor try to kill you?" Scotty asked.

"Because I saw what he and Ric did," Elizabeth said, speaking as if her mind was very far away.

"And what did they do?"

Elizabeth was trapped. What was she supposed to say? How much _could_ she say? How much would Sonny _want_ her to say? Well, that was an easy answer. Sonny wouldn't want her to say anything. Mob rules and all that. You didn't talk about what crimes had transpired, whether you'd committed them or been the victims of them. You didn't want the police looking at you when someone mysteriously ended up dead.

But she couldn't not say anything. She didn't know what to do.

Sonny shook his head at her from behind Scotty's back. Carly noticed, and wondered what was going on. This whole situation was _so_ screwed up.

"I saw them shoot Courtney," Elizabeth finally said. No one knew Sonny had been kidnapped. And Scotty didn't want to know about that. He wanted to know about how Courtney had been shot and how Trevor died. She wouldn't tell him anymore than she needed to explain Trevor's death. "This is _so_ hard. I love my husband.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know that. Speed it up, will you?"

Lucky bristled, full ready to slug the bastard in the mouth, something he'd been wanting to do every time the jerk railroaded his father. But then Elizabeth spoke, robbing him of the golden opportunity. "I came around the corner, and I saw them on the docks."

"How did you happen to stumble upon them on the docks?" Sure sounded suspicious to Scotty.

"I was out for a walk," Elizabeth lied.

Scotty made a face, displeased that his suspicion balloon had just been popped. "All right, keep talking."

"Ric was holding a gun on Sonny. He was going to shoot him." Elizabeth spoke slowly, reliving every horrible moment in her mind.

"How do you know that?"

Carly scrunched up her nose and left her mouth half open at the stupidity of that question as Elizabeth replied as if she was speaking to an extremely dense two-year-old. "He was holding a _gun_ on him!"

"Why would Ric shoot Sonny anyway?"

Sonny couldn't resist this time. "Gee, I don't know, Baldwin. Maybe because he's a deranged freak with a vendetta, like we tried to explain to you how many times?"

Never insult the D.A., especially if he's an overconfident, pompous idiot. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean he was going to shoot you," Scotty snapped.

Elizabeth nodded, staring at nothing again, her eyes glistening with tears. "No, he was. And he did."

"Wow, Corinthos. You're some magic trick. Shot and not a drop of blood--twice!"

Carly and Sonny repeated their synchronized eye-roll.

"No, no, I meant Ric shot. But Courtney, she shoved Sonny out of the way," Elizabeth explained quickly, focusing on Scotty.

"And where did Courtney come from?"

"I don't know. She just ran in between them."

"Awfully convenient."

Elizabeth was off in that other world again. "I don't know if that bullet...hit Courtney or not. It all happened so fast. I remember Sonny and Courtney going into the water, and then Trevor grabbed the gun from Ric and started shooting at them."

"And what happened next?"

"I ran."

"Let me get this straight," Scotty scoffed. "You see your husband shoot a girl, and you run instead of trying to help."

"I ran to get _help_. I ran to get Jason."

"You went to get Jason. Not to dial 911. If Ric is dead, that could be obstruction of justice!"

"Lay off it, Baldwin!" Sonny said, at the same time Lucky said, "She's been through enough" and Elizabeth said, "Sonny told me to."

Scotty only heard what he wanted to hear. "Sonny _told_ you to get Jason?"

"Yes."

"When was that?" Scotty inquired, delighted to have found a hole in the story.

"No, he told me before. He told me if I ever needed help, to go to Jason. So I did."

"Right," Scotty said dubiously.

"Everything she said is exactly how it happened!" Sonny snapped.

"You can ask Courtney," Elizabeth added.

"Speaking of Courtney, I'm going to have to clarify all this with her," Scotty said cheerfully.

"Clarify it with whoever the hell you want, but not Courtney. Not tonight. She's been through hell. I'm not letting you anywhere near my sister."

Cute blonde girl, looked a lot like Laura at that age...yeah, he could cut her a break. "I'm going to need statements, from both of you."

"Look at Elizabeth," Lucky said. "She has been through _enough_. Can't it wait until morning?"

"Before noon, no excuses. The three of you," Scotty demanded before storming off.

"Okay, I know there was something Elizabeth left out. What is it she didn't tell the police?" Lucky asked.

"Will you just take me home?" Elizabeth pleaded. She was exhausted.

Lucky wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began to lead her away. "Yeah, of course."

"Lucky's right. There's a whole lot more she didn't tell us," Carly said.

"I don't want to talk about it now, okay?"

She decided she could let it go...for now. "Okay. How about I go find Monica, see if she has any news?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

---------------

Jason waited until he was sure Courtney was asleep to slip out. He didn't want to leave her for long, but there were some things that needed to be taken care of. He stepped out into the waiting room, to find Sonny still waiting.

"I didn't think you'd still be here."

"Yeah, well, the police and all that. They wanted to know how Courtney was shot."

"What'd you tell them?"

"The truth, mostly. How is she?"

"She's better now. Dr. Meadows says the baby's okay, at least for now."

"That's good."

Safe topics, mostly. Jason treaded onto more dangerous ground, seething inwardly as he thought of Courtney as he'd found her, bleeding in the rain, as he'd seen her, crying and looking so small in the hospital bed. They knew who was responsible for causing her that kind of pain, and Jason wanted to make sure she'd never have to go through something like this again. "Ric and Trevor need to die."

"Trevor's dead."

Jason recoiled ever so slightly in surprise.

"He went after Elizabeth. Lucky stopped him, killed him in the process," Sonny clarified.

"What about Ric?"

There was a brief pause. And then Sonny spoke in the same tone as Jason. "Ric needs to die."

Jason hadn't expected to win this battle so easily, but he was willing to take what he could get. "Okay. I'll take care of it."

"No, you won't. Ric is mine."

Normally, Jason would have argued with him. Pointed out that this was his job. That he disposed of these problems, and made it look like an accident. Reminded Sonny that he'd said the same thing before and hadn't been able to do it because Ric was his brother. But something was different this time. Sonny meant it. Ric was really going to die.

Carly came back, and, upon seeing Jason, gave him a hug. "Monica filled me in. I am _so_ glad Courtney and the baby are okay. You take care of yourself, all right? I love you to death."

Jason smiled. "Yeah, I know that, Carly." And sometimes knowing that drove him absolutely crazy.

"Will you tell Courtney we'll come see her tomorrow?" Carly asked.

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that. See you." He retreated back to Courtney's room, wanting to be there when she woke up

Carly turned to Sonny. "All right. Let's go _home_."

"Home sounds nice."

How long had he been away living through God knows what and he used _that_ word? "Just 'nice'?"

"Home sounds way better than nice," Sonny correct himself. "You have no idea how much better."

"I will," Carly said, reminding him she wasn't letting him off the hook, and she _would_ find out what had happened to him.

Sonny sighed in defeat. "Yeah, you will."

-----------------

Ric let himself into the house. He'd wandered the streets for hours after the incident, trying to sort things out, trying to figure out what to do. He'd seen Lucky let a very shaken Elizabeth into Kelly's. He wanted so badly to step forward and explain things to her, but he decided against it. When he went to her, she would be alone.

He walked over to the easel in the middle of the room, looked at the painting supplies Elizabeth had never cleaned up, and possibly never would clean up. He remembered the beautiful moments they'd shared that very morning, and the wonderful dinner.

Her walkman lay on the table. He reached for it, to find out what she'd been listening to though he didn't really care. There was no tape, so he switched to the radio...

-------------------------

Come away with me...

-------------------------

Ric quickly changed the channel, remembering the dance they'd shared at The Cellar to that very song, before any of this had happened, back when she'd thought he was a good person.

"...sister of alleged mobster Michael "Sonny" Corinthos was shot tonight. Spokesmen for the PCPD say the shooting was not mob-related. In other news, a man was killed after falling from the roof of General Hospital tonight. There is not word on what Trevor Lansing was doing upon the roof, but D.A. Baldwin says that this was not_ an act of suicide..."_

not 

Ric clicked the radio off, hardly able to believe his ears. Elizabeth was gone. His father was dead. Oh, God.

---------------

Carly hit the lights as they entered the penthouse. "We're home!" she exclaimed, dragging him after her.

"Oh, really. I thought we were elsewhere."

Carly shot him a squinty-eyed looked. "Shut up."

Sonny grinned at her, infuriating as ever.

Before she could start an argument, Michael came racing down the stairs in his pajamas. "Daddy!" Rosie, startled by the yell, started barking.

"Hey, buddy," Sonny greeted, accepting his "welcome home" hug with a wince that didn't go unnoticed by Carly. "What are you doing up? It's way past your bedtime."

"I heard Mommy leave and then I heard her come back and then I heard you."

Carly put a hand on her stomach, laughing. Ah, kids. Everything was so simple to them.

Sonny turned his attention to the dog. "What's this?"

Carly's mind raced for an answer. "Oh, I just thought with Courtney in the hospital and all, she wouldn't trust Rosie with anyone on an unlimited basis but us."

"Right."

He didn't believe her for a second, and she knew it. Thank God she hadn't touched the kitchen after all.

"I was thinking about something."

Sonny lowered himself to Michael's level. "Oh, yeah? What were you thinking about?"

"If we can dogsit Rosie for Aunt Courtney and it's the same as us having a dog, can we get a dog?"

"Uh..." Sonny looked at Carly accusingly. "No."

Micheal made a face. "Why not?"

Sonny dragged Michael over to the couch. "Come here, and I'll tell you why."

Carly covered her mouth with her hand. Now this was going to be good.

---------------

Ric ran down the stairs He was going to have to lie low for awhile. He had no doubt Elizabeth would tell the police what she saw. She was that kind of person: someone who believed in the law and in the good of people. Too sweet, too innocent to be involved in all of this.

He stopped at the mantle, looking at a picture of them, taking so long ago when they were both happy. He stared at it for a moment, then shoved it into the bag. Then he left.

---------------

Carly came chugging on down the stairs. Never mind it was closer to morning than night, she was still a ball of energy. "Michael doesn't think you have very good reasons," she commented.

"Yeah, well." Sonny shrugged.

Carly plopped down next to him on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking an eyebrow. "I don't think you have very good reasons, either."

Oh, great. Ganging up on him already, and he'd been back what, two seconds? "What, now you want a dog?"

"No," Carly offered slowly. "I just don't see a reason why we _can't _have a dog."

"You've been brainwashing him, haven't you?"

"Who?"

"Michael. Making it so he doesn't listen to me just like you don't."

"That's not true! I listen to you..." Carly trailed of before adding the more honest, "occasionally."

Sonny laughed at her and moved in to kiss her...at which point a jumpy and barking Rosie intervened, making Carly gasp in surprise. Rosie settled down between them, seemingly please at having interrupted.

"You see, _that_ is why we can't have a dog. It won't let me kiss you."

Carly finally appeared satisfied. "Now_ there's_ a good reason."

---------------


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-Two

Emily kept her eyes closed long after she was actually awake, just enjoying knowing Zander was there. Feeling his presence made a smile form on her lips, giving away that she was indeed conscious.

"Hey, beautiful."

Emily's smile grew, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, she imagined what the man of her dreams and her life looked like down to the last hair. "Hey."

"Nice dream?" Zander asked, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing it.

"Nice reality," she replied, finally opening her eyes.

Zander laughed.

She let out a contented sigh and took in her surroundings. "It's so good to be back."

"How are you feeling?"

"A little under the weather," Emily said jokingly—she'd almost died, talk about an understatement!—"but much better."

Zander played with her hair. "Tired?"

"A bit."

"See, I told you you needed some real sleep last night, and you didn't listen to me." He teasingly tweaked the tip of her nose.

Emily wrapped her fingers around his wrist. "I was afraid when I woke up that you wouldn't be here," she explained shyly.

"I'll always be here."

---------------

Carly stretched without getting up, yawning widely.

"Good morning."

"How long have you been up?"

Sonny shugged.

"So you've been spying on me?"

"Not exactly spying, but, you know, you're cute when you snore."

Carly's jaw dropped. She _did not_ snore. "That's it, you're dead."

Sonny caught he wrists before she could hit him and pulled her down for a kiss. She tried to resist, but she never could. She kissed him back with purpose, and snuggled closer…

And then Rosie leapt onto the bed, right in between them, and started licking Carly's face.

Carly sat bolt upright, tearing her hair out or at least making it look like that was what she was doing. "ARGH!"

Sonny tried real hard to keep a straight face. "You're seeing my point about the dog now, aren't you?"

That got her hands out of her hair, and figuratively around his throat. "Shut _up!_ You are _so_ smug!" Carly threw a pillow at him--hard--and stormed out of the room.

Sonny didn't bother keeping up the front. He laughed. Being home with the hormonal wife definitely felt good.

--------------

Courtney blinked against the sunlight pouring into her room. She looked around her, hoping to find what she wanted to see, and she did.

"Hey," Jason greeted her.

"Hi," she replied with a smile.

"You feel okay?" he asked with concern.

If she'd woken to find herself alone, she wouldn't have been. But that hadn't been the case. Jason was here, which meant that everything was okay and she was safe. "Thanks to you."

Jason smile, and they just held hands for awhile, enjoying each others' company. Finally, Jason asked, "Are you going to be okay alone for a little while?"

"Yeah, of course. Can I ask you why?"

"I have to work."

He spoke quietly, but she heard the tone behind it, what he wasn't say it. He was going after Ric. She swallowed hard. "Okay. Be careful."

"Always," he promised.

As soon as Jason left the room, all the warmth and optimism began to drain out of her. Their baby was okay, right now. What about four months down the road? What would the ultrasound show? And what about Jason? He said he wasn't mad. But maybe deep down inside, beneath all his love and concern and understanding, he resented her, and just couldn't tell her. What if a wall started to go up between them? Was it being built already? Would they begin to drift apart?

---------------

Jason looked at Courtney through the window. She'd been in the hospital too many times courtesy of Ric. That was going to end. He was going to find Ric, and he was going to die. But not right away. Jason was going to make him suffer, torture him as he'd tortured Jason's family all these months. He turned away. Time to track the bastard down.

--------------

Monica had received the good news last night as soon as she'd come out of surgery, and had rushed to see her daughter. Unfortunately, Emily had already fallen back asleep. She would have stayed and waited for Emily to awake, but Zander had been watching over her just as attentively if not more so than Monica would have.

So she'd gone home, shared the good news with the worried family, and waited anxiously for morning to come. Finally, it had, and she was now strolling down the hall to her daughter's room, hoping Emily was awake.

And when she opened the door, she found that she was.

"Emily!" she exclaimed.

"Mom!" Emily opened her arms, and Zander wheeled away to give them room to embrace.

Monica rubbed Emily back. "Oh, Em, I'm so glad you're all right."

"Was everyone worried about me?" Emily asked with a nervous laugh.

"Yes. You were in a coma. It was very serious. For awhile, we didn't know if you'd pull through."

"I'm better now," Emily tried to assure he. She saw the look on Monica's face. "Aren't I?"

Monica sighed. "You woke up, which is certainly a good sign, but we need to take a few tests. Dr. Caldwell will be here in a minute."

Emily nodded.

--------------

When Sonny came down the stairs after her, Rosie came bounding along with him, nearly tripping him in her haste.

"Be careful on the stairs, Sonny," Carly said mockingly, sorting through the paperwork that came with running a club.

"Very funny. I have no idea how my sister puts up with this dog," he commented, shaking his head as he walked away.

"Where are you going?" Carly called after him.

"To inspect my kitchen."

The nerve! "I didn't _touch_ your kitchen!"

Sonny didn't answer, instead leaving her fuming on the couch, doing her best to push away Rosie, who was trying to demonstrate her affection with her cold nose.

"I'm still mad at you," she told the dog, seconds before Faith Roscoe burst into the penthouse.

Rosie jumped up, barking. Carly grabbed her collar, telling her to sit, before addressing Max. "Why did you let her in here?"

"I'm here on business," Faith answered for him with a toss of her heavily hair-sprayed head. Rosie growled. The dog might be a damper on romance, but she sure was a good judge of character.

"Would you like me to remove her, Mrs. Corinthos?" Max inquired, cringing apologetically.

Carly waved her free hand. "No, it's okay. I want to hear what she has to say." And if she didn't like what she heard, she'd sic Rosie on her.

Faith stood there for a moment after the door clicked shut, pursing her lips in a tiny smile. Finally she spoke. "I see you're not wearing black."

Carly's lip curled, and her eyes narrowed, the reaction she always had to Faith. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"I would have thought you'd be in mourning, unless you've yet to be informed of your husband's passing." Faith leaned forward as she spoke, and then after finishing the last part, settled back into her own personal space, with that infuriating smile in place. Rosie growled the entire time.

Carly raised an eyebrow. Now, this was interesting.

"That's right. You're husband is dead and _I_ will be taking over his territory."

At that point, Sonny, whom Carly had assumed was listening all along, stepped out of the kitchen and proved her right. "Hey, Carly, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked, going to her and putting an arm around her shoulders, nodding at their unwelcome company. "How you doing, Faith?"

For once, the smug little smile disappeared. "No, this is impossible. That snake should have _killed_ you!"

Sonny shrugged. "Guess it didn't. But I got to tell you, I don't appreciate you coming into our home, running your mouth about taking over a territory that you're not entitled to." Before Faith could do anymore than open her mouth, he called for Max. The bodyguard stuck his head into the penthouse instantly. "See that Mrs. Roscoe finds her way downstairs, okay?"

"Get your hands off me!" they heard Faith shrieking before the door closed.

Carly wasn't amused. "Okay, what was she talking about? What snake?"

"Uh…long story."

"I have time."

"I thought you had to be somewhere."

Not that tactic. "There's some things I need to take care of at the club, but it can wait."

"No, you know what, you should go."

Carly knew and evasive tactic when she saw it. "I'm not letting you off the hook that easy."

Sonny looked at the floor. "I know."

She decided to change topics. She wasn't getting anywhere with this one. "Are you going to go to the hospital?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd stop by, see how Courtney's doing."

"Tell Courtney I'll come see her later, okay?" Carly said as she kissed him goodbye, forgetting she was supposed to be mad at him. It was hard to stay mad at the person you loved most when you found out a psycho bitch had tried to kill him.

---------------

Emily and Zander waited, holding each other's hands just tight enough that it wasn't painful.

"It's gonna be okay," Zander said. "You're getting better. I can tell."

She smiled, trusting him completely. She felt better. She wasn't going anywhere. She had a lot to live for. Zander walking her down the aisle would only be the beginning of their long, healthy life together.

Monica came back in at that moment, and they both sat up straighter.

"Well?" Zander demanded immediately.

"I have good news," Monica said with a smile.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"Your body's defenses are coming back. They're not nearly at full strength, but they're no longer dangerously low. You're no longer in danger of your body shutting down on you."

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed happily, reaching over to hug Zander and then her mom. This was such good news! She could hardly wait to get back on chemo. She was going to beat this. She had to.

---------------

"Hey," Sonny said, pulling up a seat next to Courtney's bed.

"Hey," Courtney replied, pulling herself together.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well…" Courtney thought about it for a moment. "Like I just got shot."

Sonny laughed softly. "Stupid question."

"No, it's okay." A brief silence hung between them. "How about you?" Courtney asked, breaking it with raised eyebrows.

"What about me?"

"How are you feeling?"

"How do they expect you to get any better when they feed you this stuff?" Sonny asked, picking up her fork and prodding her meager slice of chocolate cake. "I mean, what is this? It's like a sponge. No substance to it at all."

Courtney rolled her eyes, smiling in spite of herself. "There you go again."

"What? What do you mean? There I go again?" Sonny delicately tasted the mashed up mess of mixed vegetables that lay on her sectioned plate and made a face.

"Changing the subject whenever I ask a question you don't like. That's all you did when I first came to town, remember? I'd ask you something, and you'd answer me with a question that didn't have anything to do with what I just said! Why can't you just answer the question I ask?"

Sonny put the fork back on her plate. "We've come a long way, you know that?"

"What?"

"I, you know, you're screaming at me, but, like, you're laughing, too. You used to just scream at me. I'm, you know, I'm glad…" Sonny looked down at the floor. "I'm glad that you're okay."

"I heard you, you know."

Sonny glanced up at her, confused. "You—what?"

Courtney reached out with her good arm and took his hand. "I heard you screaming for me. I heard…I heard you talking to God."

Sonny stared at her. He couldn't breathe.

"I wanted…I wanted to answer you, but I just couldn't. I tried to. I tried so hard but I just…I couldn't. I'm sorry, Sonny. I wanted to tell you I was okay."

Breaking free from his shock-induced paralysis, Sonny stood up, pulling his hand away. "I have to go. I got somewhere to be." He still couldn't draw in a proper breath. What was wrong with him? He wasn't locked up; he could leave whenever he wanted. Nothing was keeping him there. So why couldn't he breathe?

Courtney grabbed his arm, jerking him to a stop. "You're not leaving! God, do you have to do that? Every time I try to have a serious conversation with you, about you, you cut me off or have somewhere else to be!"

"I can't—I don't—I don't want to talk about this right now, okay? You need to rest. Go to sleep."

"Funny. Last time I saw you, you wanted me to wake up," Courtney fired back bitterly.

"Why can't you just let it go? I don't want to talk about it!"

Courtney seemed momentarily stunned by his outburst. "Okay," she finally said quietly.

"'Okay?'"

"Okay. Could you just, you know, sit back down?" she ask shyly. "Please?"

Sonny looked at her for a minute and then did what she asked. Courtney closed her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding.

---------------

The three of them, Jason, Greg, and Marco, were standing on the docks. Jason forced the thought that this was where Courtney had been shot out of his mind as he addressed the accountant. "What do you have?"

"Mr. Lansing hasn't made any withdrawals from his back accounts or used his credit cards," Greg replied, twitching nervously.

Jason's eyes narrowed. He could tell something wasn't right with the accountant, but he kept his suspicions to himself. "Keep looking," he ordered shortly. He watched Greg until he disappeared from sight, and, hopefully from earshot, before speaking to Marco. "Something's off about him. Call Myer. Have him check Ric's accounts, and his phone records."

Marco nodded.

---------------

"Are you sure you're okay? You're not in any pain or anything?"

Courtney rolled her eyes at her brother. "You're hovering again."

Sonny flashed her the famous dimples. "You're right."

"Oh, he admits it!"

"Well, if you ever need anything, you know." Sonny shrugged.

Courtney thought about it. She wasn't sure he'd do it, but was there any harm in asking? "Actually, there is something I need."

-----------------

"What do you got?"

Jason, returning to the hospital after hit meeting, stared at her blankly.

Carly hefted the packages in her arms. "I come bearing flowers and cookies, the two things a girl needs for recovery. What about you? You have nothing. Your fiance is in the hospital, and you don't even bother to bring her something! I can't believe she agreed to marry you! You know what, she wouldn't have if it weren't for me."

Jason rolled his eyes. If Carly wanted to believe it was all her doing, he might as well let her. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try to get her attention and shut her up. "Carly…"

Carly shoved the flowers into his arms, ripping the tag she'd written a get-well-soon message on off. "Here, take these."

"Carly," Jason tried again. It was useless. He knew it. He'd known it for years.

"What are you standing there for? Come on, we got a beautiful girl waiting for a visit! Let's go!"

Jason let her drag him after her, her nails digging into his skin even through the thick leather of his jacket. Sometimes, you just had to let Carly go. If you didn't, who knew what she would do. Actually, Jason did know. That was the scary part.

"Surprise!" Carly exclaimed, beaming as she pushed into Courtney's room.

It was dark, and the bed was empty. Carly's eyes widened and she dropped her box of cookies. Jason's heart jumped into his throat.

"Oh my God," Carly said.

Jason dropped the flowers and they both turned around and started running.

-----------------

The doctor had told Courtney she needed rest, relaxation, and as little movement as possible. Sonny agreed with him, and _of course_ he was right. Courtney insisted that she could walk, which had lead to an infantile back-and-forth dispute which had in turn resulted in Courtney getting out of the car. She was too stubborn to back down, so he'd gone with the quickest solution.

He'd picked her up and started carrying her. She hadn't stopped yelling at him since.

"Put me down!" she shrieked. She kindly didn't kick him as Carly would have in the same situation. Either she was being nice or she was thinking about what was best for her baby. Definitely the latter.

"Could you get the door?" he asked outside PH2, ignoring her shouts.

"Argh!" she grunted in frustration and did as asked.

He was on a real roll today, having infuriated all the womenfolk he'd come across, except Bobbie. First Carly, followed by Faith (and how enjoyable that had been), then Courtney's doctor, who would never have allowed this if it weren't for Bobbie's intervention, and now Courtney. Why not take it a step farther? "You're heavy, you know that?"

"I am not!" Courtney objected.

"Are, too."

"Am--you're awful," Courtney huffed. "Can you put me down, already?"

Sonny obliged, depositing her on the couch and sitting next to her.

"You're obnoxious," Courtney continued on her tirade.

"You said that already." Several times.

Courtney hit him. He winced.

"I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"

"Yeah, I think I pulled a muscle, carrying y—"

Courtney hit him even harder this time. Okay, maybe making fun of her wasn't such a good idea, at least not when he was beaten up from a fall down a flight of stairs. After the bruises went away, he'd tease her relentlessly to make up for time lost.

"You are hurt, aren't you?" Courtney sounded really concerned.

"It's nothing."

Courtney sighed. She knew he'd never admit it. "Thanks for smuggling me out of the hospital."

"I didn't smuggle you. I just signed the paperwork and promised your doctors repeatedly that you would be well taken care of."

"You know what I mean." Courtney looked away, toward the window. Suddenly a change came over her. She turned all sad and distant.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Courtney looked back at him, biting her lip. "I need to ask you something."

"Shoot."

A split second later, they both winced.

"Sorry, bad word choice."

"No, it's okay."

"You, uh, you were going to ask me something."

Courtney took a deep breath. "It's about Jason. Look, you've known Jason way longer than I have, and you know how he thinks. I've seen it. Half the time you guys don't even need to talk. You just know what the other is thinking. Ever since I got shot, Jason has been telling me he's not mad at me. He keeps saying that I'm okay, and that's all that matters, but it's not. He's told me over and over again that I can't try to save either of you, and if I do, he'll have to walk away, and he won't look back when he does. And what did I do? I did exactly what he told me not to do. I put my life and his--our--child's life at risk. How can he not resent me for that?"

Sonny just looked at her for a minute, absorbing everything she'd said and the true fear behind it. "Jason does not blame you for what happened."

"How can you know that for sure?"

"Do you trust me?"

"What? I mean, yeah, of course I do."

"Then trust me on this. Jason does not blame you; he does not resent you. And he's not going anywhere." He wasn't sure if that made her feel better, but she relaxed a little. "I'm sorry, you know. You guys should be married by now."

Courtney smiled. "Well, you can't exactly have a wedding without the best man. And I wouldn't want to get married without my big brother there anyway."

Before the conversation could progress any further, Jason burst through the door. They both nearly jumped out of their skin. Jason wasn't the type to come barging in like that. Carly, yes. Jason, no.

"Are you all right?" Jason asked as soon as his eyes fell upon Courtney.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She was completely bewildered.

"What happened?"

Courtney suddenly realized what might be wrong. "God, I'm sorry. I should have called you. I couldn't stand being in the hospital anymore. I felt trapped. Sonny got me released. We didn't mean to worry you."

"You know what? We're going to leave. We'll be across the hall if you need anything." Carly didn't even object as Sonny pulled her out of Jason and Courtney's home.

Jason went to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Courtney was totally lost. "Jason, what's going on?"

"I came back to the hospital, and I ran into Carly in the hall. She had these flowers and she said something about how when your fiance's in the hospital, you're supposed to bring her flowers and so she shoved the flowers at me and dragged me to your room. She opened the door, and you weren't there. And I panicked. I thought Ric had done something to you."

"You don't jump to conclusions, Jason."

"I know I don't. But I can't help myself when it comes to you, Courtney. I can't help worrying. I can't help thinking 'what if.' I can't remember much about what life was like without you, but it wasn't as good. And I don't want to go back to that. I'd always be looking back at what I had with you."

Courtney drew in a deep breath. She wanted to break the somber mood. "So what happened to the flowers?"

"The flowers? You know, I think I dropped them," Jason said, a contemplative look on his face like he was _really_ trying to remember what had become of them. It made her laugh.

"Come here," she said, and pulled him over to kiss him.

---------------

"Why'd you do that? Why'd you take Courtney out of the hospital?" Carly demanded as soon as they were safe inside their own penthouse.

Sonny fiddled with something on his desk, looking at the floor. "Because she told me she felt trapped, and I knew what she meant."

"She shouldn't be out. What if her wound had reopened?" Carly was practically screaming at him.

"It didn't." Carly wasn't usually the one to go down this road. He didn't understand why she was thinking like this.

"And what about Jason?" she continued. "We thought Ric had taken Courtney."

He could see where she was coming from now. She was afraid, and with good reason. "They're okay," he tried to reassure her. "They're fine."

"Are you sure they're okay? Maybe we should check and just make sure." Carly headed to the door.

Sonny pulled her back. "Carly, they're fine. Everything's fine now."

Carly gave up trying to act like she was in control. "I know. It's just been so hard. I don't know what I'd do without you." She buried her face against him.

People who didn't know Carly thought she was selfish, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. She fought tooth and nail for the people she cared about, and she was always there for them. Carly always felt like she needed to be strong for everyone, even when she was falling apart inside. That's what was happening now. She was afraid Ric was going to take her family away. He almost had.

Wasn't gonna happen.

Sonny kissed the top of her head, tried to comfort her.

---------------

Faith Roscoe stormed down the alley, arms crossed over her chest, heels clicking away. Her blood was boiling with rage. How dare Sonny Corinthos and the Five Families disrespect her this way? How dare Ric ignore her in favor of that little waitress?

She _was_ entitled to this territory, her husband's territory. She was entitled to respect, and Ric's love. And she would _have_ all three. The gears were already turning in her mind. She could accomplish all of the above in a single stroke, with a solitary action. She smiled to herself.

---------------


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-Three

"I'll get it!" Courtney leapt up, and they both raced to the desk, playfully fighting for the phone. Courtney's hand closed over the plastic first and a smirking Jason was forced to concede defeat. Still giggling, she put the reciever to her ear. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Ms. Matthews."

"Hey, Marco!" Courtney had long ago given up trying to get the men to call her by her first name. She wondered if they'd refer to her as Mrs. M. when she and Jason finally got married, as they called Carly Mrs. C. "Jason's right here." She was about to pass the phone off to her fiancé when Marco's voice stopped her.

"Thanks. And Miss Matthews?"

"Yeah?"

"We're glad you're all right."

Courtney was touched. "Thank you." She passed the phone to Jason, who put it to his ear.

He got right to the point. "What'd Myer find out?"

"Myer checked Ric's phone records. He hasn't made any calls since the night of his disappearance, but there is something of interest."

Jason waited for Marco to say more, but he didn't. "What is it?

There was a hesitant pause. _"I'd rather not discuss it over the phone."_

There was little the men wouldn't discuss over the phone. Jason knew this was serious. "Sonny and I will meet you on the docks in ten minutes." He hung up.

Courtney sighed, knowing he was going to be leaving again. "Look, I know I'm not supposed to ask, but what's going on? Did you find Ric?"

Jason exhaled, considering how much he could safely say. That would be everything, for he knew Courtney would keep every secret he revealed to her, but he didn't want her to worry anymore, especially not over that scum Ric Lansing. "You know I can't talk to you about business." Seeing the sad acceptance in Courtney's eyes, he continued on, "But I can tell you that this is nothing dangerous. Sonny and I are just meeting Marco to disuss some stuff."

Courtney smiled, glad he had entrusted her with some information, if not all. "Thanks for telling me."

Jason reached out, brushed her cheek. She closed her eyes, contented. "I'm going to head across the hall," he said gently.

"I'll come with you," she replied, going after him as he pulled away.

---------------

"You feeling better?"

Carly accepted the glass of orange juice her husband passed her with a face but no objection. "Yeah, I'm better now. I just overreacted a little last night. I do that sometimes."

Seeing as though the dog had helped herself to the other half of the couch, Sonny went to chair, grinning. "Yeah, I noticed."

The unpleasant face was then directed at Sonny. Carly looked as if she was considering throwing the glass of orange juice at him. Sonny was probably very lucky that Jason and Courtney chose to show up then, the dog barking in announcement of their arrival.

"Rosie!" Courtney practically squealed, bending down to ruffle her golden retriever's fur. "Hey, girl! What are you doing here, huh?"

"Do you want the truth or Carly's version?" Sonny inquired.

Courtney raised her eyebrows as Carly leaned forward to smack Sonny. "My version _is_ the truth!"

"Yeah, except maybe a little backwards..." Jason said, baiting her.

Carly shot Jason a threatening look and began objecting as Sonny and Courtney talked over their bickering. "Carly said with you being the in the hospital, she didn't think you'd trust the dog with anyone but us."

Courtney perched on the arm of the chair, next to Sonny, so they wouldn't have to scream at each other. "Oh, really? So she took it upon herself to get her from Mrs. DeRosa, right?" Courtney didn't believe a word of it.

"Right."

They sat observing Jason and Carly going at it for a good thirty seconds before Sonny spoke again. "So is there any special reason you're here or is this just a social visit? Not that I mind or anything."

"Actually, there's something Jason needs to discuss with you."

"What?" He wasn't asking what it was he and Jason needed to discuss, he was asking her to repeat herself. He couldn't hear over Carly.

Courtney yelled right in his ear. _"There's something Jason needs to discuss with you!"_

"Oh." Courtney and Sonny returned to looking at the other two, who were still arguing. Didn't look like they were going to be discussing anything anytime soon.

"Good luck," Courtney said with a laugh as her brother stood up to interrupt.

Turned out Sonny didn't need it. He'd perfected the art of talking over Carly a long time ago. "Hey, Jason, Courtney tells me there's some business we need to take care of." He gestured toward the door.

"Yeah," Jason said, looking absolutely relieved at the save, practically dashing after Sonny, who turned back when they were halfway out the door. "You, uh, ladies going to be fine alone?"

Courtney waved a hand. "No, hey. Carly and I, we'll just hang out while you guys are gone."

Carly's eyes lit up. Sonny noticed. "Should I be worried? I mean, this is my house."

Courtney put her hands together and solemnly swore to her brother, "I promise I won't let her touch the kitchen."

Carly opened her mouth indignantly. Before she could speak, Jason said, "Good."

"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Carly squealed.

Sonny and Jason walked out, waving goodbye over their shoulders.

"Can you believe them?" Carly demanded, disgusted

Courtney bit back her smile with only partial success. She loved this family.

---------------

Once safely in the hall, Sonny asked Jason, "What's going on?"

"Marco's found something interesting in Ric's phone records. We have to meet him on the docks."

"Why didn't he just tell you about it over the phone?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. He said he'd rather discuss it in person."

The elevator doors slid closed.

--------------

Elizabeth had discovered long ago that keeping busy was the best way to deal with any event. That was what she was doing now, going on with her job and forcing the thoughts of Ric, Trevor, and what they had done out of her mind. She smiled at a customer as she passed her a cup of coffee. "Here you go." Then she retrieved same dirty dishes, put them in a basin, and headed behind the counter.

The phone rang.

Thinking nothing of it, Elizabeth put the basin down, and then dragged the telephone from under the counter, placing it on the formica surface before picking up the receiver. "Kelly's Restaurant."

"Good morning."

Elizabeth let out an exasperated breath. She was so sick of this woman. "What do you want, Faith?"

"Sonny and Jason have Ric at their warehouse. They are going to kill him within the hour, unless you do something. Now, I don't like you, Elizabeth. I do, however, like Ric. Sonny and Jason aren't going to listen to me. But if you were to intervene..." Faith left the thought there. "_Think about it."_

Faith left the thought there. " 

Elizabeth closed her eyes and hung up the phone, leaving one hand on it as the other tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She looked to the door. Through it, she could see her assigned bodyguard. His presence reminded her of all Ric had done. She shook her head and went back to work. She loved the man she had thought Ric was, not the monster he had become. It wasn't up to her to rescue him. It wasn't up to anyone. Whatever Sonny and Jason did to Ric was exactly what he deserved.

---------------

Faith Roscoe made another call, placing it to Ric, who of course didn't answer the phone. He was smart. He knew better than to answer the phone, just in case it was someone on the other end who could trace the call. She left a message on his voicemail.

"You need to get back to Port Charles _right now_. Sonny and Jason are attempting to coerce your location out of your beloved waitress wife. They've taken her to the warehouse. You know which one. Obviously, she knows nothing. You wouldn't trust her. She's not like me...like us," she dropped her voice, speaking low and husky. "But you know Sonny and that vile temper of his. I'm afraid little Lizzie isn't going to last very long..." she trailed off, snapped the phone closed. This was too perfect.

She looked both ways. Seeing no one, she slipped into the Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse. Far in the distance, she heard heavy machinery, likely unloading a shipment of coffee...and whatever else it was that Corinthos and Morgan imported.

She made her way through the maze of stacked crates, her infamous sky blue duffle bag clasped in one hand. She hadn't bothered exchanging her heels for less noisy shoes. She would not be caught.

She found a central area in the twisting crate corridors, and gently put the duffle bag on the floor. She unzipped the bag, revealing a mass of wires connected to a clock. She lifted it carefully from the bag and placed it on a crate, pressing the activation button. In five minutes, the Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse would be leveled, along with Elizabeth Webber-Lansing, who would show up to rescue her darling hubby. Ric would get her message, then take Sonny and Jason out, blaming them for the explosion, and turn to her for...comfort. She smiled evilly to herself. Perfect.

It was only as she began to walk away that the first complication arose.

Someone grabbed her wrist.

---------------

Marco was waiting for them when they arrived on the docks. "Mr. Corinthos, Mr. Morgan," he acknowledged respectfully.

"What's so important you couldn't tell Jason over the phone?"

In reponse, Marco pulled out some papers and passed them to his bosses. They were Ric's phone records. At first look, there didn't appear to be anything amiss. Then Jason spotted a familiar number that Ric had made several calls to.

"That's Greg's number," he said, contemplating the implications.

Marco passed them another set of phone records, these ones showing he had made several calls to Ric as well. This could only mean one thing.

Their new accountant was a traitor.

"Bastard."

--------------

"Faith Rosco, isn't it? I've heard much about you."

Faith tried to jerk away from the man with the smooth voice, but his grasp was firm. "Have you? And who would you be?"

He smiled smugly. "Lorenzo Alcazar. Perhaps you were acquainted with my brother Luis..."

"I've heard of him. Now, if you'll excuse me--" She tried to push past, but he stepped in her way.

"Why the rush?"

Faith let out an abbreviated laugh, cocking an eyebrow, trying to look less scared than she actually was. Over Alcazar's shoulder, she could see the seconds on the clock ticking down.

"You do realize your trespassing in Corinthos's territory."

That sparked Faith's temper. She got right in his face. "This territory is _mine_."

---------------

Max and Marco excorted the accountant, one on each side, keeping their hands off him but nonetheless forcing him along. Greg was beyond nervous. Never before had he been excorted to a meeting with the bosses by anyone. They summoned, he went of his own free will.

He was lead down an alleyway, dark even at the brightest hour of the day. There the bosses stood, waiting for him. Mr. Corinthos nodded to Max and Marco, didn't do the same to Greg, making him even more nervous. "Good morning, Greg," he said, amiably enough on the surface, but there was a sharp, angry edge underneath.

Greg shifted uncomfortably under Sonny and Jason's gazes, both so cold, calculating...knowing. But there was no way they could no about his betrayal, no way at all. Sonny was just probably angry about something else. He always was. "Good morning, Mr. Corinthos, Mr. Morgan."

Jason didn't acknowledge the greeting. It sent a shiver down Greg's back.

"So, tell me, Greg, how much did Ric pay to ante up my accountant? And don't lie to me."

Greg's eyes widened, and Max and Marco took hold of him, making sure he couldn't run. Even if he did, there was still Jason, who would no doubt put a bullet in his back. He stammered out the truth; it was the only chance he had left of living. "One million dollars. And I walked away with my life."

Mr. Corinthos shook his head, looking at the ground, _very_ disappointed. "You're a traitor, Greg. And you do a great disservice to Benny."

"Look, Mr. Corinthos, I can explain--"

"I don't want to hear it! The only thing that's going to save you is if you can tell me where Ric is now."

Greg started shaking. He didn't know. He honestly didn't know.

---------------

"I understand the Five Families and Sonny Corinthos have barred you from their meetings."

"Their mistake," Faith spat out.

Alcazar offered a nonsmile. "I have a proposition for you, Mrs. Rosco."

Propositions were all well and good, but not with a clock ticking. She had to get this done as quickly as possible. "Oh, really? Do tell."

"I have a several back shipments of product I wish to move into Port Charles. Unfortunately, I have not been able to sway Morgan and Corinthos to my point of view."

"That is unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with me." Faith could see clearly that only a minute remained until the warehouse went boom. And yet Alcazar continued to speak of how they could partner up to spread drugs across New York state and the Eastern Coast, right under Sonny's nose. It wasn't that she had a problem with the plan, she had a problem with the timing he was taking to _tell _of the plan.

"I'm not interested," she said, and tried one last time to pull away.

"I'm not finished."

Faith was starting to panic. Only fifteen seconds. "Let go of me! Do you _want_ to die?"

Alcazar seemed to finally comprehend what she was saying, following her gaze. They both looking down at the bomb, his hand still securely wrapped around her wrist.

The explosion rocked the warehouse.

---------------


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ric Lansing was holed up in a cabin several miles north of Port Charles and high up in what would be considered ski country if it wasn't the middle of June. He was keeping a low profile. Only the man who'd rented the place had seen him, and his eyes were so clouded over with cataracts he couldn't even count the cash Ric had given him. Ric had had to convince him to bring the money to someone else to count, and if Ric had cheated him, he could always throw him out.

Ric hadn't cheated him. He hadn't overpaid him, either. He wanted to draw as little attention to himself--or, rather, his new alias--as possible.

He was carefully monitoring the news, waiting to fade from the headlines. Only then could he risk returning to Port Charles. He was fiddling with the radio tuning, switching between news programs, stopped when he caught the name Corinthos.

"--Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse is on fire. Witnessses from all over the city say there was an explosion, after which the warehouse burst into flames. The warehouse, as you may know, is run by alleged mobster Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, and his alleged enforcer, Jason Morgan. It is unclear at this time if this explosion is anyway related to the rising mob violence over the past few months. It is also unclear if anyone was inside the building at the time of the explosion. However, the firefighters at the scene have been telling reporters that if there _were_ anyone inside, there would be no survivors."

Ric punched off the radio. Good for whoever had done that. He wondered who. He flipped open his cellphone, got into his voicemail. He had to see if anyone had tried to contact him. Greg was still on his payroll, and had been giving him updates as to his bosses' search for him. He might have called about the warehouse explosion and who was behind it.

The only message was from Faith Rosco.

"You need to get back to Port Charles right now._ Sonny and Jason are attempting to coerce your location out of your beloved waitress wife. They've taken her to the warehouse. You know which one. Obviously, she knows nothing. You wouldn't trust her. She's not like me...like us. But you know Sonny and that vile temper of his. I'm afraid little Lizzie isn't going to last very long..."_

right now. 

Ric's eyes widened as the realization hit him. Sonny and Jason had destroyed their own warehouse...with Elizabeth inside. It was their revenge on him...on Elizabeth for her honest mistake, thinking Sonny had pushed her. Oh, God. Ric grabbed his gun off the coffee table and ran out the door. He was getting revenge this time. He was taking from Sonny everything he had taken from him.

Everything.

---------------

"Oh, the ending was so romantic!" Courtney dabbed her tears. The movie had taken them on an emotional rollercoaster, so sweet and so tragic. And yet, somehow, the ending had turned out so happy.

Carly sniffed and reached into the bag of chips next to her, comfort food. "Yeah, it was."

The door clicked open, and Jason and Sonny walked in. They'd struck a deal with Greg, who'd spilled about giving Ric updates on the search for him. Greg was going to get Ric to call him no matter how long it took, and keep him on the line long enough for Stan to trace the call. Max and Marco had become his constant companions, subtle reminders for Greg, ensurance for the bosses.

"Hey, guys!" Courtney said cheerfully, popping a chip in her mouth.

Sonny nodded to her. "Hey."

Realizing what she was eating, Courtney's eyes widened, and she said quickly. "They're healthy."

"Yeah, they have sour cream, which is like dairy," Carly explained, "and onion which is--"

"A vegetable," Courtney supplied, catching on right away. She didn't have a choice; she was pregnant now, too.

Carly nodded a little too enthusiastically, her eyes wide and innocent. "Exactly."

Sonny put a hand over his mouth, probably covering a smile, as Jason leaned forward, peering at the bag. "Doesn't that say 'artificially flavored'?" he inquired with a furrowed brow.

"Jason!" Courtney squealed, snatching the bag and placing it out of view.

"Shut up!" Carly yelled, grabbing a pillow and flinging it in Jason's direction, causing Rosie to start yelping. "You're supposed to be my friend!" Jason had the presence of mind to duck, and Sonny too, just in case there was a rebound. The pillow bounced off the door and landed harmlessly on the floor.

No one could help it. They all started laughing. Courtney switched the VCR off, putting an end to the scrolling credits, and was about to turn the TV off too. That's when the bright orange flames licking the screen caught her eye. It was a special news bulletin, and the graphics declared there had been an explosion...at the coffee warehouse. "Oh my God." Her words caught everyone's attention.

"This is the third time the Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse has been leveled in three years. Only last summer a bomb claimed the life of a young woman, Kristina Cassidine, sister of Alexis Davis, the attorney who was recently put on trial for the murder of the man who planted the bomb at this--or, rather, what used to be this warehouse--"

Jason and Sonny were already heading out the door when the women leapt up.

"You're going to find out who did this, aren't you?" Courtney said. She had a sick feeling that it had been Ric. But it was a little too flamboyant, wasn't it? He didn't like his crimes to attract media attention. No, he did them in private. In motel rooms and mine shafts, little cottages on Martha's Vineyard, on the docks of Port Charles...

"We gotta access the damage and decide what to do about it, you know," Sonny offered cryptically.

"You said you'd come to my appointment today," Carly said, not accusingly, flatly. Courtney knew she was only saying that in hopes of keeping her husband away from the flaming wreckage--who knew if that was the only bomb set to go off?

"I'm sorry."

"Just be careful, okay?" Carly gave him a fierce hug.

Courtney did the same to Jason. "You, too."

"I will. Always," Jason promised.

The two stood in silence for several minutes. Finally, Carly spoke. "I guess I should go get dressed for my appointment."

"Yeah, I guess you should," Courtney agreed.

---------------

Twenty minutes later, Carly bid Courtney goodbye and stepped into the hall, summoning the elevator. Mith Max and Marco watching Greg and Johnny still recovering, the door post was unmanned. She punched the key for the elevator and charged into it with the abounding amount of energy she always had.

She was grabbed and a hand pressed over her mouth before she could let out the shriek.

---------------

The firefighters weren't even close to having control over the flames when Sonny and Jason arrived at the scene. Smoke filled the air. This was the fourth time they'd looked upon the destruction of their warehouse, and it was more complete than ever before. What the bomb hadn't blown to bits the fire was taking care of. Sonny and Jason kept their distance, standing in a crowd of onlookers whose curiosity was almost morbid. There was nothing they could do but wait.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

The woman addressed anyone who would listen. Jason and Sonny were closest, so she addressed them, without even looking their way. She seemed captivated by what was before her.

"One second the building was intact, the next it felt like an earthquake had hit the street. Blew out all my windows, that explosion did."

She didn't particularly seem to mind. She was smiling. Either she was eccentric or excited to be caught up in such a big event. Or maybe she was just in shock. Damned if that knew. "You saw what happened?" Jason inquired.

"Oh, yes. I have--I _had--_" she corrected a little too cheerfully, "a clear view of the warehouse from the kitchen. I was ironing in the kitchen; I always iron in the kitchen. I looked up and I saw the strangest thing. This blonde woman went into the warehouse through an entrance visitors never use. Now, I supposed she could have been a worker, but she was dressed in all black, and I don't think workers wear high heels and skirts shorter than my own teenage granddaughter wears, and trust me, my granddaughter wears some pretty short skirts. She stopped outside the door and made two phone calls before going inside. And she kept looking around like she didn't belong there and thought she was going to be caught. The whole thing was rather strange."

"Faith," Sonny muttered.

The woman nodded, still not looking at them, and not really comprehending that the strange woman had been identified. "Then this man followed her in. Tall sort, with a beard. Looked like one of those rappers in the videos my granddaughter watches. You know, suit and big chain necklace? He went in after her. Neither came out. Then, a couple minutes later, KA-BOOM!"

"Alcazar," Jason said flatly, shaking his head. Stupid. Stupid on Faith's part, stupid on Alcazar's. So which one had planted the bomb?

"We need to make sure," Sonny said lowly. "See if Myer can find any more witnesses. Look for yourself if you have to. And steer clear of Baldwin. He's gonna be all over us."

Jason nodded and mutely slipped away.

The helpful grandmother looked Sonny's way for the first time, and seemed a bit shocked at what she saw. "Hey, aren't you--"

Sonny disappeared into the crowd. He was good at becoming invisible.

But before he became too invisible, Scott Baldwin caught up with him.

---------------

Monica walked down the hall to Emily's room, knowing she would find Zander there. She had put this off the day before, wanting them to be able to enjoy the moment of Emily's recovering health, and wanting herself to be able to as well. But now, the time had come. Zander's spinal injury had taken a backseat with Emily being in such danger, but now it must become a priority.

She pushed through the door to find Zander and her daughter laughing, about God knows what. She didn't care. It made her heart glow just to know they were so happy. But unfortunately, she was going to have to take this pleasant moment from them.

"Mom! Zander and I were just talking about how when I get better, we're going to go on another road trip...a planned one this time." Emily laughed at the memory of thier very much unplanned first roadtrip, the one where she was a hostage and Zander a kidnapper. It had been quite a ride, as their lives together continued to be. But it was, in fact, the ride and not the destination that made the journey so enjoyable, and they knew that better than anyone.

"Well, I hope you can do that very soon," Monica said with a slightly forced smile.

Emily saw it. "Mom, what is it?"

Monica sighed. "You've been ill for a long time Emily, and Zander has been with you day and night. We've neglected the isssue of his paralysis. But now we need to discuss his recovery options, as well as yours."

-----------------

Sonny had spent a good hour with Baldwin, who was spinning the ridiculous and predictable theory that Jason and Sonny had, once again, blown up their own warehouse. Where did the moron get these ideas? What would they gain from blowing up their own warehouse? Did he think they got a kick out of rebuilding it every sixteen months or so? He shook his head as he walked into the penthouse.

Courtney quickly stood up. "Hey."

"Hey," Sonny replied, not even glancing in her direction. Instead, he went to the desk and began flipping through the mail resting upon it.

Okay, obviously he wasn't in a talking mood, but she needed to know what had happened. "How are things at the warehouse?" Courtney winced at her own phrasing. "I mean, that sounded dumb. There's not really much left of the warehouse, is there?" She laughed nervously.

"No, there's not." He continued sorting through the envelopes.

"But you can rebuild, right?"

"Yep."

One more question, and then she'd let it go. "Do you know who did it?"

"Not yet. Jason's working on that," he said, waving a hand. She knew he'd only added that part so she'd know where her fiancé was, and she appreciated it. There was a time when he wouldn't tell her anything about Jason's whereabouts. "Right now, it looks like Faith. Alcazar might be involved, too."

Courtney rubbed her forehead, letting out an exasperated breath. "God, don't these people have anything better to do then go around blowing up other people's warehouses?"

"Uh…" Sonny actually thought about it. "No. They don't."

There really wasn't much else to say, so Courtney sank back on the couch, putting an arm around Rosie and ruffling the cutie's fur. Sonny looked upon the dog with displeasure but said nothing. Courtney wondered if Carly had gotten a lecture about letting the dog on the couch yet. She bit back a smile at the thought, and rubbed Rosie harder, hoping it would make her shed more for no other reason than to see her brother's frown deepen more than she would have thought humanly possible.

The phone rang, distracting Sonny and for the time being ruining her plan. Oh well. This wasn't an opportun

"Yeah?" Sonny answered.

"Mr. Corinthos?"

"Yeah."

"This Dr. Meadows from General Hospital. Your wife had an appointment today?"

"Yeah..."

Courtney was slightly amused. How many different ways could you say the word "yeah" anyway?

"Well, she never showed up. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right."

"That's not right." He looked to Courtney. "You said Carly left for her appointment?"

Courtney stood up, frowning. "Yeah, hours ago. She was going to stop by Bobbie's first. Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm sure she just forgot," Dr. Meadows said in her usual calm, composed manner. _"When you see her, will you tell her to call me so we can reschedule?"_

Dr. Meadows said in her usual calm, composed manner. 

Sonny wasn't so sure. "Yeah, yeah. I'll do that. Thanks." He hung up the phone slowly.

Courtney didn't like his expression or his posture. Something was definitely not right. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Carly?"

"She never showed up for her appointment."

"Maybe she just forgot," Courtney offered lamely.

Sonny shook his head. "Carly wouldn't forget."

The phone rang again.

"Maybe that's her right now." Courtney was hopeful. Maybe a little too hopeful.

"Carly?" Sonny said as he answered it.

It wasn't his wife's voice that responded but that of the person he most wished bodily harm upon. _"Well, well, well, I see you've missed her already. I'm not really surprised, the length of the chain you keep her on."_

Sonny's grip on the phone tightened, but he kept his voice level. "What'd you do with her, Ric?"

He thought he heard Ric snap his fingers. _"Straight to the point. Don't you want to talk, get to know each other a little bit better?"_

"Where's Carly, Ric?" Sonny repeated, perhaps a little too patiently.

"No, I guess not." Ric sighed as if he regretted it. Sonny knew better. "_If you ever want to see Carly again, you'll be at the abandoned warehouse in ten minutes. Alone."_

Ric sighed as if he regretted it. Sonny knew better. " 

"What abandoned warehouse? The one by Pier 52?"

"What intuition."

"If you do anything to her, I swear I'll--"

Ric laughed scornfully. _"What, Sonny? Kill me? That threat's rather empty, isn't it? I'm already dead. You made sure of that."_

---------------

Ric snapped his cell phone closed, and turned to smile at his captive. He'd bound her to a chair, her legs to the legs and her arms to the arms. He'd stuck a gag in that overactive mouth of hers--God, a banshee couldn't match her vocal abilities. Her eyes flashed in anger. He had to admire a woman like that. He and Carly had been great friends once. Alas, Carly's lack of taste in men (Sonny and Jason) had ruined the relationship. Pity she hadn't taken the time to find better. He hated to do this to her, but it was needed.

He reached over, and lifted the gag from her mouth. "Your husband should be arriving any moment."

Carly spat in his face.

Ric blinked in surprise, made a face, wiped it away. "Now that's not polite."

"Neither is kidnapping!" she snapped.

He couldn't argue the point.

---------------

"What's going on?"

Sonny had one hand on the desk, looking at the floor, obviously contemplating. "Ric has Carly."

Courtney's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God."

Seeming to make up his mind, Sonny pulled his keys out of his pocket, unlocked a desk drawer, and pulled out his gun. "All right," he said, loading it. "Uh, you need to stay here." He turned and headed to the door.

Courtney knew the doctor had told her she was supposed to relax and take it easy, but she leapt up and ran after him. "Where are you going? What if it's a setup? Sonny!" She shouted to an empty hallway. He was already gone.

---------------

Emily frowned. "Why? We already know what's going to happen. I'm going to stay here, and start chemotherapy again when my body is strong enough, and Zander's going to start physical therapy."

Monica sighed, putting a comforting hand on her daughter's arm. "I'm afraid things just aren't that simple."

"What do you mean?" Zander inquired.

"General Hospital is an outstanding medical establishment. It, however, is not the best, and physical therapy is not its specialty. Yes, we have physical therapists, but none who are well-trained enough to work with an injury of this magnitude. One error could result in irreversible damage to Zander's spinal cord. It's also likely that the kind of therapy practiced here will not help Zander at all. It's not all bad news. I have found a center that practices the type of therapy Zander needs to recover."

"Then he'll go there instead. I don't see the problem."

Monica hesitated for a moment before breaking the very bad news. "The problem is that this center is in California."

---------------

Courtney had gone back into the penthouse and snatched up the phone, dialing a number she knew so well. She paced as it rang, pushing her hair back, wishing the call would complete faster. She got his voicemail. "Jason, you need to get to the abandoned warehouse by Pier 52 as fast as you can. I think it's the one where Alcazar found me. Ric has Carly, and Sonny went to meet him. Please, don't let anything happen to my brother. God, I love you."

She ran across the hall, opening the closet door as soon as she was inside and hauling the lockbox down from the top shelf. She grabbed the keys out of a desk drawer and shoved one into the lock, turning it and opening the lid. There lay the gun Jason had given her, fully loaded, safety on, ready for use.

She picked it up, tested its weight in her hand. She knew how to use it. She already had, shooting Coleman. She still remembered how frightened she had been, tearing through her pans to find it, and then turning it on the masked stalker. And then she'd held it on A.J. to get his confession. Could she fire it again? To protect her family?

Yes. If she had to. She shoved the gun into her pocketbook, slammed the lid closed, and ran for the elevator.

--------------

"I don't care! He has to go. I'll go with him and resume treatment in California." Emily folded her hands over her stomach, the matter settled.

Monica sighed yet again. "That's the thing, Emily. You can't. There is no hospital or clinic near this center that has the equipment to treat a cancer as far progressed as yours."

Emily was deep in denial. "You must be wrong. There has to be a hospital."

"Emily, you can't. General Hopsital is the best place for you to recieve treatment for your cancer."

"No, there has to be a way! I won't let this split us up. I won't let anything split us up! We've wasted too much time already. Mom, there has to be a way." But even as Emily said it, she knew there was no other way. She could tell from the sadness in her mother's eyes. Still, she wasn't willing to accept it.

Zander spoke softly. "Emily, maybe it's for the best."

"How can being apart be for the best?" Emily snapped.

They looked at each other. Actually, Zander looked, very calm and collected, very unlike him. And she glared, her eyes molten brown orbs of fire.

"You two have a lot to discuss. I'll leave you to it." Monica did just that, shutting the door very quietly behind her.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm going with you, and that's final."

"No, it isn't. Em, you can't."

---------------

Sonny stepped into the warehouse. Ric was nowhere in sight. He walked down the crate corridors, through the shadows they threw, his footsteps echoing on the cold cement floor. Sonny stopped. It was hard to see. The silence was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Where are you, Ric?" he called out to the seemingly empty room. The only answer was the repeated rebound of his own question, bouncing off the walls, through the vast space in between, gradually fading into the same errie silence.

---------------

Somewhere in the dark, Carly clawed desperately at her bonds, curling her wrists back to pick at the ropes with the very tips of her nails. At the same time, she attempted to chew through the gag, which Ric had replaced. Fighting tooth and nail wasn't just an expression to her; it was a lifestyle.

She had no idea where Ric was. He could be feet away, or halfway across the warehouse. She had no way of knowing.

She heard her husband's voice, and that made her more frantic. He'd come. She'd known he would come. It made her happy and terrified at the same time. She knew Ric's plan, and she knew she had to stop it. She had to warn Sonny that it was a trap. If she was going to die anyway, she was going to save the father of her children. Michael needed him.

---------------

Sonny kept moving. He was unfamiliar with this warehouse; he was sure Ric had explored it. He had no idea where Ric was; Ric knew the general area he was in from his question.

He kept low, allowing the crates and the shadows they threw to be his shield. The darkness had no alliance. It would serve whoever used it best.

As he moved, Sonny clicked the safety off his weapon. The sound reverberated across the room. It was answered by another click unnervingly close.

Sonny withdrew behind more crates much the same way he had in the crowd earlier. Hopefully he could hide from Ric better than he'd been able to from Scott Baldwin.

As he moved, hoping he could stay one step ahead in this game of Ric's, he worried about Carly. What had Ric done to her? Had he hurt her? Was she dead? There was no way of knowing. He had to find her. Nothing mattered without Carly.

He knew Ric had this whole thing mapped out. He wasn't going to play by Ric's rules, whatever they were. The warehouse was Ric's chess board, Carly the pawn he'd used to draw Sonny here. Ric had a scenario planned out in his mind, like the best of chess players. Sonny had to disrupt that plan. Finding Carly and getting her out of here was the priority. But when that was done, he was going to do the last thing Ric expected. He was going to confront him. And he was going to kill him.

For his mother, who didn't deserve to have her name associated with this scum.

For Jason, who'd insisted on killing Ric and had been right. He always was.

For Elizabeth, who'd been scarred the most through all of this. Most scars faded with time. The emotional scars engraved in Elizabeth's heart, the hurt, the betrayal, were never going to go away.

For Carly, who'd lived for so long with the pain of believing she was raped. Who had been blackmailed about the true paternity of her baby, and lived in fear of discovery and abandonment for so long.

For Courtney, who had been thrown in a mineshaft and later shot, that bullet both directly and indirectly putting the health of the baby she cherished at risk. Who feared that Jason on some level resented her for something completely out of her control.

Ric Lansing deserved to die. Tonight, he was going to come face to face with his destiny.

--------------

Elizabeth walked through the park, hugging herself. She reached out, touched the blossums on one of the bushes. It was so beautiful, but her thoughts weren't really on the beauty that surrounded her. They were thinking of Ric. She knew he was too far gone to save, and that even if Sonny and Jason hadn't killed him today, Ric would have destroyed himself, just as he destroyed the people around them.

---------------

Courtney was running so fast, she didn't even see the person in front of her until it was too late. She veered out of the way, but they both tumbled to the ground, everything in Courtney's bag spilling over the grass.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Courtney apologized even before she realized it was Elizabeth. "I didn't mean to."

"No, it's okay. I wasn't watching where I was--" Elizabeth's eyes fell on the gun. Hesitantly, she reached out, picked it up, felt it's weight in her hand. Courtney didn't noticed right away, showing the rest of the contents of her purse back inside of it. "Courtney, what's this?" Elizabeth asked.

Courtney looked up, seeing the weapon in Elizabeth's hesitant fingers. She hastily reached out and snatched it away, depositing in her bag. Out of sight, out of mind, or so they said. It really wasn't that easy.

"Why are you carrying a gun?" Elizabeth asked.

Courtney let out a long breath, considering how much she should tell Elizabeth. Finally, she decided just to give her the whole truth. Ric was Elizabeth's husband, even if marrying him had been the biggest mistake of her life. She deserved to know what the monster was up to now. "Ric has Carly. He wanted to meet Sonny alone, and Sonny left."

"And you're going after him." It wasn't a question.

"I can't reach Jason. I keep getting his voicemail," Courtney said, by way of explanation.

"Where is he?"

Courtney glanced up in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Where is Ric?"

"The abandoned warehouse by Pier 52. Why?"

"Please, let me come with you."

"Elizabeth--"

"No, listen to me. Ric loves me. He might listen to me. Maybe I can help."

Courtney let a brief silence hang. "Do you really think he'll listen to you?"

"Please, I can't let him hurt anyone else. He's done enough damage."

Courtney looked Elizabeth over. She looked the same as she always did. Same hair, same makeup, same clothes, but something about her was different. It was in her eyes. There was a sadness there, a pain. In some way she'd been violated by her husband's actions. And it was going to take a very long time for her to heal. "Especially to you," Courtney said quietly, taking this all in.

Elizabeth looked at Courtney. For so long she'd been blinded by disdain over some sort of betrayal that hadn't even happened that she hadn't been able to see who Courtney was. Now, she could. The determination, the strength, the bravery, the protectiveness, and the kindness. She hadn't judged Elizabeth for what Ric had done. Instead, she'd pointed out that anyone could have fallen for his lies if they truly wanted to believe them.

And silently, they connected. They read each other's thoughts. They knew what had to be done. They had to stop Ric, put an end to this. Because neither of them could go on living full, happy lives with him threatening their happiness and freedom, not to mention the people they cared about.

"Let's go," Courtney said.

---------------


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**The Fallout **

Chapter Twenty Five

What was Zander thinking? Hadn't he learned anything from this experience? "I am not going to be separated from you, Zander!"

"Emily," he said, his voice low from emotion. "I feel the exact same way you do, but we don't have a choice."

Why was he accepting this so easily? "Yes, we do! I have a choice, and I choose to go with you. You can't stop me." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away to make it final.

Zander pulled one of her arms loose, gently clasping one of her hands between his. "Emily, listen to me." He was practically begging. She met his gaze again, unable to help it. "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. We have the rest of our lives to be together. But not if you don't get the treatment you need. You're sick, Emily. It's not going to go away overnight. You can't get better and be with me at the same time."

She shook her head, but with less confidence than before. "We'll find a way," she whispered.

"There is no other way. I have to go, and you have to stay."

The silence stretched for a long time. Emily sniffed, and expressed her truest fear. "I don't want to lose you."

He moved closer, taking her face in both his hands and staring deeply into her eyes. "You're not losing me. You're not losing anything. I will love you forever, Emily Quartermaine."

A lone tear trailed down her cheek, rolling over his thumb and sinking into the pillowcase. She knew what needed to be done.

---------------

The warehouse was completely silent. There was no indication as to where Ric was, where Carly was. All Sonny could hear was his own breathing. He knew he was running out of time. Ric was going to find him eventually. He needed to find Carly and get her out of here before that happened. He couldn't let Ric win.

---------------

Ric slipped amongst the shadows. He knew Sonny was close; he'd heard the click. He's pulled the hammer on his own gun back in response. Sonny was lurking just around one of these corners.

He was letting Sonny think he was searching for him in the dark. He wasn't. He had no intention of killing Sonny. At least not right away.

----------------

Carly continued to tear at the bonds. She felt them giving.

Oh, God, please, she thought, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. She continued yanking at the ropes. The knots were coming undone; she felt them giving way. Ric obviously was no Boy Scout. In more ways than one.

The knots slipped again. She wiggled, trying to slip her slender wrists through the narrow space. The ropes tore at her skin, making it rough, raw, and sore, but the pain was worth it. She got one arm out.

Yes! Yes, she was free. She was free. She ripped the other knots apart and snatched the gag from her mouth.

That's when she heard Ric. "Hey!" he shouted. "Don't move!"

No way was she gonna listen to him, armed or not. "Sonny!" she screamed, running for her life and the life of her baby. "Sonny, it's a trap!" Ric was hot on her heels.

---------------

Sonny stopped in his tracks, whirling around. He started running toward where he thought she was. "Carly! Where are you?"

--------------

Carly knocked over crates as she ran, trying to slow Ric down. He scrambled over them too easily. She knew she couldn't make it to the exit. She knew it. There was only one thing she could do. One thing she could accomplish. Just before Ric closed in on her, she slammed the palm of her hand against the light switch. Taking away Ric's advantage--his knowledge of the warehouse layout--was the only chance left.

---------------

The warehouse was flooded with light. Sonny saw her. Ric was pressing a gun to her neck.

"Don't come any closer!" his brother shouted, eyes wild, panting.

Sonny had his own gun trained on Ric. He slowly lowered it. He couldn't risk Carly. "Let her go."

Ric dragged Carly away from the door. "You come any closer, I'll shoot her. You see this gun, Sonny. I'm pointing it right at her head."

Yeah, Sonny saw that. "She's got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me. Nobody else needs to get hurt."

Ric burst into scornful laughter. "Do you even listen to yourself, Sonny? Do you hear the things that come out of your mouth? After everything you've done, you say Carly has nothing to do with this. What about Elizabeth, huh? She had nothing to do with this either!" Carly closed her eyes as he pressed the gun harder against her neck.

---------------

Courtney and Elizabeth were running now. They'd found the warehouse. "Come on, this way!" Courtney shouted, leading the way down the alley. Elizabeth was right at her heels. They could see the entrance. They were almost there. They both skidded to a stop when they saw the scene before them. Their eyes widened in shock. It was worse than Courtney had imagined, way worse. Courtney grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her out of sight. They hadn't been seen yet. If Ric saw them, he just might shoot Carly, realizing he was outnumbered and not wanting to go down without some kind of "victory" over his brother.

---------------

Sonny could see the fear written all over Carly's face, underneath the feigned stoicism. She was terrified. "_Yo lo mataré, hermano pequeño. Yo'M que advierte usted, permitió que ella vaya,"_ Sonny spoke in his most threatening tone, switching to Spanish to spare Carly the negotiation. She was scared enough as it was. I will kill you, little brother, he had said. I'm warning you, let her go.

"Usted mató a Elizabeth!" Ric spat back. You killed Elizabeth!

What was Ric talking about? He hadn't touched Elizabeth. _"Yo no toqué a Elizabeth."_

"You're a liar!" Ric shouted. "You killed my father! You killed Elizabeth!"

Sonny spread his arms. What the hell? "What are you talking about? I didn't kill anybody."

---------------

The pieces clicked together in Elizabeth's head. The warehouse explosion. Faith's telephone call. Jason and Sonny had never had Ric. Elizabeth was supposed to go to the warehouse, and die in the explosion. Ric was supposed to find out, think it was Jason and Sonny's fault. Ric would take them out, leaving Faith in control and with Ric to boot. Her plan had worked perfectly, except that Elizabeth was alive. Why hadn't she realized before? No, she couldn't possibly have realized before. It was too sick and wrong and twisted and complicated to understand.

---------------

"You took what matters most to me. Now I'm going to take what's yours." Ric's finger closed on the trigger.

Before Courtney could react, Elizabeth ran into the warehouse, revealing herself. "No, Ric!" she screamed. "I'm alive!"

---------------


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**The Fallout **

Chapter Twenty-Six

Monica gave Emily and Zander what she hoped was enough time to work out their differences. She could only pray that Zander had been able to get through to her daughter. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room. "Have you come to an agreement?" she asked.

Emily nodded. She and Zander's fingers were entwined. "Yes," she said, trying to stay strong in spite of it all.

"Well?" Monica asked, holding her breath.

"Zander is going..." Emily trailed off, and looked down. "...and I'm staying," she finished sadly.

Monica reached over and gave her daughter a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Oh, Emily. It's the right choice."

Emily and Zander both knew it was. But it still hurt.

--------------

Ric stared at her. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Ric," she said, slowly moving closer to him. She was terrified for Carly. She had to convinve Ric to let her go. She could very well be the only person who could do that.

Before she made it more than two steps, she felt fingers closing around her wrist, jerking her to a stop. "Elizabeth, don't."

Elizabeth looked Sonny straight in the eyes. She owed this to him, and she owed this to herself. She had loved Ric, or at least the Ric she'd known before all of this happened. She needed justification of her love of him. She needed to know that there was some good left in him, so she could hold onto the memory of that good, instead of all the bad. She needed to understand what it was about Ric that had made her distance herself from all these people who had been so good to her over the years and had made her put all her trust in him.

"It's okay," she told Sonny quietly. "He won't hurt me."

She wasn't sure he'd believe her. He had no reason to. Over and over again she'd defended Ric and she'd been wrong on every count. He had made Carly think he'd raped her, he'd kidnapped Courtney, he'd taken Sonny. All these things she'd claimed he had not done, he had. Now, Carly's life was in Ric's hands. If Sonny let her go to him, he'd be entrusting her with Carly's life. And that was an awful lot of trust to put into her after how wrong she'd been.

To her surprise, Sonny let her go. Even after all that had happened, he still trusted her.

"I won't let him hurt her. I promise," she told him very quietly.

Sonny nodded. She walked toward her husband and the woman he was holding hostage.

--------------

Courtney drew in a long breath as she watched Elizabeth approach Ric. She had run in after Elizabeth, trying to stop her, but she'd been too late. Now she stood next to her brother. She couldn't believe Sonny was letting Elizabeth do this, but at the same time she was glad. She knew that if anyone could talk Ric down, it was Elizabeth. Carly's life depended on Elizabeth, and Courtney feared for both of them.

--------------

"Let Carly go, Ric. Please," Elizabeth begged. "Please, Ric. Do it for me."

Ric continued to look at her. Finally, he released Carly. The woman stepped away, regarding Ric warily. When she realized he was really letting her go, she wasted no time in running to her husband. Courtney and Sonny both hugged her, but neither took their eyes off of Ric and Elizabeth. This wasn't over yet,

Ric pulled Elizabeth to him. "Oh, God," he said.

"Just give me the gun, Ric," Elizabeth said calmly. It was almost over.

He was holding her so tight that it hurt. "I can't live without you, Elizabeth." His lips brushed her ear as he spoke, and for the first time, she was really, truly afraid. It wasn't what he said, it was the way he said it. His tone, so dark, so ominous. She realized she did not know what her husband was capable of. She only had a vague idea.

"Ric!" She struggled to get out of his grasp.

"I won't live without you."

----------------

He was going to die. There was no way his brother would let him live. He could not be without Elizabeth. He needed her. So he was going to take her with him. Into eternity. He pressed the gun to his temple. The bullet, he knew, would find a path through his skull and into hers. Forever together, they could rest in peace in death.

---------------

She didn't want to die. She knew she was going to. She closed her eyes as the dread overtook her soul. How she would have preferred to die not knowing it was going to happen. She believed in God and heaven. She believed God was good. But what came next? She didn't know. She was terrified of the unknown. She laughed to herself. What you didn't know certainly could hurt you. What she hadn't known about Ric was now going to take her life.

She wondered if it would hurt. That was what she was most afraid of. The pain. And the life she hadn't lived. Why hadn't she pursued her artwork? Why had she never apologized to Jason and Courtney? Had she told Gram she loved her last time they'd spoken? Who would come to her funeral? Would anyone care after the way she'd behaved?

This was it. There was no going back. No fixing what she'd done wrong, no apologizing to the people she'd wronged. This was the end.

---------------

Holding onto Carly, Courtney wrapped her fingers around the gun. She couldn't believe this was happening.

-------------

Jason charged into the alley. He saw Carly. Standing back, sobbing, crying, Courtney holding on to her. He saw Sonny. Gun trained on Ric but not doing anything about it. He saw Elizabeth. Her eyes squeezed shut, tears leaking through just the same. Her mascara smudged. Her entire petite frame trembling in her husband's grasp. He saw Ric. Holding a gun to his head as he held Elizabeth. Lined up so the bullet would take Elizabeth with him. He saw Courtney, lying in the hospital bed, her hair soaked and tears streaming down her beautiful face.

Jason raised his gun. He was going to do what his best friend couldn't. Ric Lansing had hurt the people he cared about for the last time.

---------------

Sonny saw Jason out of the corner of his eye. He knew what Jason was going to do, and he knew he couldn't let him do it. He wasn't going to let Jason go down for what needed to be done. Jason was his brother, not Ric. Ric was nothing.

Sonny didn't think twice. There wasn't time. He shoved Jason aside.

A single gunshot went off.

----------------


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty Seven

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Courtney raised her gun, as did Jason. They were both prepared to shoot, to save Elizabeth. She didn't deserve to pay for the horrible deeds her husband had done. Courney's finger rested on the trigger, and she prepared herself to shoot. Jason didn't need preparation. He leveled his gun, training it on Ric's chest. One shot, and Lansing would be dead. Gone. Out of their lives forever. Like he should have been for months. But then Sonny pushed Jason out of the way.

A single bullet soared through the air, burying itself in Ric's heart. Elizabeth felt his grip on her relax. And then Ric was sinking to the ground, taking her down with him. She held him, tears streaming down her face. He locked eyes with her one last time, reaching up to just barely brush her beautiful face. "Elizabeth--I'm--sorry," he forced out. His hand dropped, and his eyes went out of focus, never to see again.

Ric Lansing was dead.

And the bullet in his chest was Sonny's.

It was heartbreaking. Ric's death brought no joy. It was just one final tragedy on a long list of evil deeds relating to Ric Lansing. Jason lowered his weapon, and Courtney slipped hers into her purse. It was over. Finally over.

Carly went forward to her husband, and Jason moved to his fiance. Courtney leaned back into him as he wrapped his protective arms around her. They stood there and watched. There was nothing they could do. There were no words of comfort they could offer that would make this okay for Elizabeth. All they could do was watch, and do their best to comfort each other.

Sonny never took his eyes off the man he had killed. It had needed to be done. Now he had to deal with the fallout.

Elizabeth.

He moved toward the young woman. Carly let him go. He knew it, but he didn't comprehend it. His entire being was numb. He had killed his brother. And he didn't feel anything. Not a thing. He should feel guilty. He felt nothing.

He wasn't sure how Elizabeth would react, if he had any right to approach her. He couldn't apologize to her. He couldn't say he was sorry, because he wasn't. She was hurt, that much he could be sorry about. But he could not be sorry that Ric was dead and that he had killed him.

He reached out, lightly touching Elizabeth's shoulder. He half-expected her to recoil, but she didn't pull away. "Elizabeth, it had to happen. He was going to shoot you," he said to her, very quietly. She nodded, and she told him she knew. She knew. And that knowledge made her cry harder.

He was about to speak to her again, though he had no idea what else there was to say, when the worst possible thing that could have happened at that moment happened.

In stormed countless men in blue, all armed, all with their weapons trained on Sonny, all lead by Lieutenant Marcus Taggert. "Police! Put your hands up!" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the vast space.

Elizabeth started, and looked at the police with wide eyes. Why were they here? What did they want? Wasn't this bad enough already?

"Put your weapons down and put your hands up! Corinthos, back away from Mrs. Lansing. Now!"

Some of the officers had noticed Jason was armed, and shifted their sights onto him. He carefully backed away from Courtney, making it perfectly clear that he was putting his gun down.

Sonny did the same as Jason, placing his gun on the ground and moving far away from Elizabeth. If the cops decided to start shooting, he didn't want Elizabeth anywhere nearby.

Two officers swiftly took the guns into their posession as Taggert went to feel for a pulse on Lansing. There was none. Just as quickly and efficiently, some cops moved to Jason and Sonny, slapping them in handcuffs. "You are under arrest for the murder of Ric Lansing," they said, and then chanted their rightes. Elizabeth looked dazed. She knew this was wrong. "What's going on? What are you doing?" she whispered, but wasn't heard about the din.

"You can't do this!" Carly shouted. Courtney held onto her, knowing full well trying to intervene would only make things worse. If she'd learning anything since Elizabeth was pushed, this was it.

"Actually, we can."

The pompously delivered statement announced Scott Baldwin's arrival.

"You _bastard!_" Carly screamed, fighting Courtney for all it was worth. Another officer stepped forward to restrain her.

Scotty's eyes were sparkling. "Some of Port Charles's fine citizens reported hearing a gunshot over here. I knew it had something to do with you and your lackey, Corinthos!"

Neither Jason nor Sonny took the bait.

Scotty leaned forward, tilting an ear towards them, as if he were listening for something neither of them were saying. "What's the matter? Got nothing to say? You'd better start talking, because unless you can cut a deal, the both of you are going down for Murder One!"

Elizabeth was completely bewildered, still kneeling with her husband's head in her lap. Taggert was trying to convince her that it was all right, and she could let go of Ric now. She was too busy trying to figure out what was going on around her. What were the police doing? They hadn't even asked what had happened. "No, you can't do this. This is wrong. Ric was going to shoot _me_."

"Why are you protecting them? They threatened you, didn't they?" The all-knowing Scotty was smirking at his own twisting of the facts. Whether it was first-degree murder or not, he could make it look like it was, and he was going to. Morgan and Corinthos were going _down!_

"What are you _talking_ about?" Elizabeth asked.

Scotty waved a hand. "I don't have time for this! Haul them down to the station."

"You are _not_ getting away with this, Scott Baldwin!" Carly screamed after him.

Scotty muttered something like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"We need to get down to the police station. We need to find Sonny and Jason a lawyer," Carly started rattling off all the things that needed to be done. She was near hysterics. Courtney did her best to calm her down, but it was ineffective.

Elizabeth had found the strength to raise herself from the floor. "I need to make a statement," she said to Taggert, who was standing behind her in case her shaky legs gave out. "I need to go down to the police station and tell them what really happened. I need to tell them that Sonny only shot Ric because Ric was going to shoot me."

Courtney met her eyes from across the room. She couldn't believe how strong Elizabeth was being, after all she'd been through. Her husband had tried to kill her, and then he'd died in her arms. Now Elizabeth wanted to go down to the station, where she'd have to endure hours of painful questioning, for no other reason than to clear the name of the man who'd killed husband. "You don't need to do anything, Elizabeth. Not today."

Elizabeth shook her head. No, Courtney was wrong. She needed to do this. Not just for the people around her, but herself as well. "Ric did enough damage when he was alive. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else from the grave."

With that statement, Taggert escorted Elizabeth out of the warehouse. Carly and Courtney were close behind.

---------------

Carly and Courtney gave their statements. They were quick and precise, explaining just what had happened, and how they had been involved. The police didn't spend as much time with them as they had expected. They didn't quiz them on the same questions ten times, looking for holes in their stories. Then, to their even bigger surprise, they let them go into the interrogation room where Sonny and Jason were being held to wait while Elizabeth was interviewed. Maybe they moved along so quickly because they could plainly see Carly was on the verge of leaping across the desk and wrapping her fingers around their necks. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

It was the something else entirely that the two women feared the most.

"I don't like the sound of that," Sonny commented, when he heard how quickly things had moved along.

"But they can't do anything. I mean, you did it to save another person's life. They can't hold you for that, right?" Courtney was looking for reassurance she knew she wasn't going to get.

Her brother shook his head. "Scott Baldwin will hold us for anything and everything he can think of."

Courtney moved off into a corner with Jason. She put her hands over his, which were still cuffed in front of him. Such a simple thing, holding hands, and yet it gave her everything she needed in that moment. As long as she could still be near Jason, feel the warmth of his life, then everything was okay. She glanced up at him, met his intense gaze. She knew he felt the same way. A shy smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Some things silence, a look, a touch, expressed better than a thousand words. So she didn't say anything. Speaking of the moment would ruin it. Instead she asked about the interrogation. "Why do you think they questioned us so quickly?"

Jason shook his head. "I know know. Maybe they don't think what you have to say is as important as what Elizabeth does because of your relation to Sonny and me. It could be something else. You never know."

They both faced the window, and looked through to the squad room, where Elizabeth was seated across from D.A. Scott Baldwin and Comissioner Mac Scorpio, being interrogated.

---------------

Mac placed the tape recorder on the desk between them. "Please state your name for the record, Mrs. Lansing."

Elizabeth was tearing a tissue into little shreds, staring at her hands. "Webber," she said. "It's Webber."

"Legally, you're Mrs. Richard Lansing," Scott interrupted loudly.

Mac shot Baldwin a scathing look which turned gentle again when his eyes settled back on Elizabeth. "Your name."

She hated to say it, but she had no choice. "Elizabeth Lansing."

"Tell us what happened, Elizabeth."

Carefully she explained the incident in the part, leaving out the gun that skittered from Courtney's bag. She told them how she'd asked Courtney where she was going, and how the other woman had given her the truth--that Ric had kidnapped Carly, Sonny had gone after him, and Courtney was in turn going after Sonny. The memories played in her mind as she told them.

"How did Courtney _know _Ric had kidnapped Carly?" Scott abruptly interrupted, with his overbearing attitude and hand gestures. "Who's to say that Carly didn't go with Ric willingly?"

She stared at him. Was he crazy? "Carly wouldn't go with Ric willingly," she whispered, shaking her head slowly.

"How do you _know_ that?" Scott was grinning, as if he'd achieved some kind of victory no one else could fathom.

"Because," Elizabeth said. "When I walked into the warehouse he was holding a _gun_ to her head."

Giving the D.A. another warning glare, Mac instructed Elizabeth to continue.

And she did. "Courtney said Ric wanted Sonny to meet him at the abandoned warehouse by Pier 52. She couldn't reach Jason, so she was going herself. I asked her to let me go with her, and she said yes."

"Why did you request that?" Mac asked the question this time, unobtrusively.

"Because, I thought if Ric was really holding Carly captive that maybe I could talk him into letting her go without hurting anybody. I thought Ric would listen to me." Elizabeth had to fight back tears. She'd been wrong yet again. She'd told Courtney that Ric wouldn't hurt her. He'd been going to kill her and himself with the same bullet. How could she ever have trusted him? How could she have ever thought he was a good man?

"What happened next?"

"Well, Courtney and I went to the warehouse. We stopped outside, and we heard Sonny and Ric yelling at each other. They kept saying things in Spanish. They kept saying my name. We couldn't tell what they were saying. And then Ric yelled that Sonny was a liar, and he said Sonny had killed me."

Scotty pounced on this opportunity. "Ah hah! And why would Ric think that?"

"That was Faith," Elizabeth tried to explain. "Faith told me this morning that Sonny and Jason were holding Ric at Sonny's warehouse, and they were going to kill him if I didn't do something about it. I guess Faith called Ric and told them they had me at the warehouse."

"Either that or Corinthos and Morgan _were_ going to kill Lansing, and blow up their own warehouse to diguise their crime! But somehow he escaped, and took Carly hostage to save his own skin! That's enough, Scorpio. I have enough to prosecute!"

---------------

Watching from the window, Courtney noticed Baldwin's change in posture, the smirk, how he jammed his index finger in Mac's face. She didn't like it. "I think we should go out there and see what's going on."

Carly silently agreed, and they both knocked on the door. The guard released them from the interrogation room. Sonny joined Jason at the window.

---------------

Elizabeth held up her hands, leaving the debris of her Kleenex on the desktop. "Wait a minute. I haven't even finished giving my statement!"

"I have means, motive, and opportunity." Baldwin ticked them off on his fingers. "Corinthos and Morgan wanted Ric dead because of what he did to Courtney. They decided to blow up their warehouse with Ric in it. Except Faith finds out. She calls you, sees you're not going to do anything about it, maybe she saves Lansing herself. Ric kidnaps Carly to keep himself alive, somehow he hears you were at the warehouse when it blew, but then you miraculous show up. You talk him out of shooting, and the whole thing is about to end when BAM! Sonny murders Lansing anyway."

"No, no, no. Sonny and Jason didn't murder_ anyone_. Ric was going to shoot _me_."

"Are you forgetting that Courtney and I were there, Scott? We saw the _whole thing_." Carly was back in catfight mode, her eyes blazing.

Mac took one look at Carly and knew they were in trouble if he didn't diffuse the situation. "Scott, it was obvious self-defense. Sonny shot Ric so he wouldn't shot Elizabeth. You have five witnesses, including Corinthos himself, testifying to that."

"Who's the D.A. around here, Scorpio?" Baldwin roared. "That's right, it's me. I decide if there's enough evidence to prosecute, and I say there is. Corinthos and Morgan are guilty, and they're going _down!_"

"No, they're not."

All heads turned toward Courtney.

She stood with her head held high. "Sonny didn't shoot Ric. I did. They're covering for me."

---------------


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sonny and Jason watched from the window, unable to hear, but able to see just fine. Everyone in the room was staring at Courtney. Jason felt his heart skip a beat. What had she said? He knew Courtney. He knew she'd do anything to protect her family. Her fierce loyalty was one of the things he loved most about her. But right now, he had a bad feeling. He couldn't protect Courtney from the police or herself from in this room.

---------------

Courtney felt the stares of everyone in the room upon her. She didn't flinch or back down. She was not going to let the PCPD railroad her fiancé and her brother. They'd never believe Sonny shot Ric just so he wouldn't shoot Elizabeth, but maybe they'd believe her.

Scotty waved a hand. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not. I brought a gun with me to the warehouse." Courtney reached into her bag, and produced the weapon, holding it out for the room to see, leaving the barrel facing her so no one would think she was going to open fire. "Ask Elizabeth. When she ran into me, it fell out of my bag. That's why she asked where I was going."

"Yes, but you didn't _shoot_ Ric, Courtney," Elizabeth said.

She turned on Elizabeth. "How do you know? Ric was holding a gun to your head. You had to have been scared out of your mind."

"Corinthos's gun was smoking!" Baldwin scoffed. "Get out of here before I charge you with obstruction of justice!"

If Courtney hadn't shoved the gun back in her bag herself, Carly would have done it for her. Instead, she settled for dragging Courtney into a corner before the young woman could continue her argument.

"What are you _thinking_?" she demanded.

"What are _you_ thinking?" Courtney shot back. "I could have pulled it off just fine. I could have said Sonny took my gun from me and gave me his and wiped off the fingerprints. It could have worked!"

Carly rubbed her temples. This sounded too much like something she would have come up with. "Courtney, you cannot _do_ things like this. You cannot risk going to jail. You have a little life growing inside you. That baby needs its mother."

Courtney's hand moved protectively to her stomach. "My baby needs its father and its uncle, too."

"Well, so does mine," Carly replied, "and Michael too. But what if we all end up in jail? What will happen then?"

Courtney shook her head. "We won't."

"Well, we could have! You're lucky Scott Baldwin let you go like that. He could have charged all four of us with conspiracy to commit murder! Where would our children be then? Who would take care of them?"

That was twice. Twice now she'd put herself on the line without even considering her baby. "God, Carly, I'm sorry. I didn't think."

Carly gently touched her arm. "It's okay. If I wasn't pregnant, I probably would have done the same thing. But Courtney, you and I, we both need to take a step back, and examine the situation a little more now. I would go to jail in Sonny's place in a _heartbeat_. But I can't. Michael needs me, and this baby needs me. My life isn't my own anymore. It belongs to two little boys."

Courtney turned away from her. "What is wrong with me? First I jump in front of a bullet, then I set myself up to go to jail. I should have learned the first time. I could have lost this baby, Carly."

The older woman reached out and gently made Courtney look her in the eyes. "You love your family. There is _nothing_ wrong with that. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. But you've just got to remember your baby comes first from now on, okay?"

Courtney nodded, knowing Carly understood better than anyone, and if that Carly could think of her baby first, then she could too.

"Do me a favor, Courtney?" She met Carly's eyes as her sister-in-law spoke. "Make sure I take my own advice. Because I'm tempted to just charge over there right now and say I shot Ric Lansing."

A smile tugged at Courtney's mouth. "You wouldn't."

Carly shifted her glare to Scott Baldwin, looking him up and down with a gaze so intense it could scald. "Oh, I would."

Courtney didn't doubt it for a second.

---------------

All this time, Scotty had been pounding out his theory. At some point Lucky charged into the police station. Courtney had called him when they started interrogating Elizabeth, telling him she needed a friend, and he'd gotten down to the police station as soon as he could. He immediately went to Elizabeth's side, and she leaned back against him. "Oh my God. I cannot believe this was happening," she whispered.

"It's okay, Elizabeth," he said. "Let me take you home, all right? Let me take you home."

"No, I can't just leave this like this."

Carly and Courtney stepped out of their corner. "You did everything you could, Elizabeth. It's not your fault that _this jackass is in the district attorney's office!_" Courtney raised her voice, shouting the last part over her shoulder, loud enough for the whole squad room, including Baldwin himself to hear.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry." Elizabeth's eyes plead for forgiveness.

Courtney was going to speak up, but it was Carly who stepped forward. "Look, Elizabeth, we're not exactly friends. I don't even _like_ you. But you cannot blame yourself for this. It is not your fault. You are not responsible for what your twisted, miserable excuse for a husband has done. Do you understand that?"

Trying to control the flood of tears, Elizabeth offered up a weak nod.

"Good. Now, let Lucky take you home and take care of you. There's nothing more you can do."

Lucky wrapped an arm around Elizabeth and led her away. Carly turned on Baldwin immediately. She got right up in his face. Courtney didn't even try to intervene. "The charges aren't going to stick, Scotty, because you know what? They're all lies. There is no jury that won't see right through you."

"Well, I guess we'll see in court, now, won't we, Mrs. C?" With wide-eyed grin, Scotty sauntered off.

---------------

Some minutes later, Courtney was seated across from Jason in the interrogation room and Carly was in the squad room with her husband, who was about to be transferred down into the lockup. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked him.

Sonny nodded, but didn't meet her eyes. "I'll be fine."

Carly pressed her mouth into a thin line. She knew he was going to say that. "Of course you will," she said bitterly, wishing he would be honest with her. She knew better than to pursue the point, though. "Is there anything Courtney and I can do?"

"Just, you know, get in touch with Dara, let her know what's going on."

Carly nodded. It was the only thing she could do. Sit on the sidelines and let a lawyer take care of everything. But, God, she wished she could leap right into the thick of it and tear into the people throwing this false accusations around. But, no, the best thing she could do for her husband and her best friends was set a good example and be as supportive as possible. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I told you, Carly. I'm fine."

"How can you mean it, Sonny? You shot your mother's son. I know you're going to carry it. You already are."

Sonny slowly shook his head. "Ric was nothing. You can't carry nothing."

Carly felt tears of relief prick the back of her eyes. It was over. It was really, truly over. Ric would never hurt her or the people she cared about again.

---------------

The second Courtney sat down across from him, Jason knew something was wrong. Her expression was too bland, her eyes too troubled. This was more than her just being upset over what was happening to him and Sonny. He wanted to reach out and enclose her in a comforting embrace, but he had to settle for holding her hands in his own cuffed ones. "What's wrong?"

Courtney took a deep, shuddering breath, and her grip tightened on his fingers. Tears she'd been struggling to hold back began to fill her eyes. She swiped at them in an attempt to get rid of them before they could fall. "Remember when you told me if I ever tried to save you again you'd have to walk away and you'd never look back? Well, I just tried to save you again."

Jason tightened his own grip. He had known. "What'd you do?" he asked quietly. It wasn't an accusation. He just needed to know so he could fix it for her...for them...for the family they were going to become.

She laughed, but there was no amusement in it. "I told the police that I shot Ric and you and Sonny were just covering for me."

His heart stopped. "Courtney..."

"Baldwin didn't believe me, thank God," she said, talking over him. "But does that even matter, Jason? Are you going to walk away from me anyway?"

Jason moved his hands to her face, staring deeply into her eyes. "I can't walk away from you, Courtney. I've tried. You are my life. You mean everything to me. You _are_ everything." The tears started to fall, tracing a path down her cheek and then over his hand. "I can't promise you that I'm going to get out of this. But I can promise that no matter what happens, I will _never _stop loving you."

Nothing could stop her tears now. Her chin trembled. "And I'll never stop loving you." She stood up and reached across the table. Jason rose to meet her and their lips met in a passionate kiss.

"Break it up, break it up!" Baldwin shouted. The cops immediately rushed forward, grabbing hold of Jason and pulling him back. Jason and Courtney didn't let the kiss break. She leaned further across the table, keeping the contact, until the guards jerked him out of her range. She reached out her hand then, touching him as the pulled him away.

"Take him down to lockup," Baldwin ordered.

Physically they were separate, but their eyes continued the contact. "I love you," she mouthed as they took him away, although there was no reason to say it.

And then he was gone.

Courtney sank into the metal chair, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. She sat there for a long while before she felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder. "Are you ready to go home?" Carly asked kindly.

Courtney nodded, but she knew she'd never be able to call the penthouse home again. Not without Jason there.

---------------


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

The Fallout

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zander was just wheeling himself out of the room where he'd had various tests done when he spotted Monica heading up the hall.

"Oh, good. There you are," she said, stopping in front of him. "The arrangements have been made. The clinic in California already has a room set up for you."

Zander had to force himself to speak. "When do I leave?"

"Today."

---------------

Courtney paced her brother's penthouse. Rosie was watching her from the couch, her furry golden head moving from side to side with Courtney, her tongue lolling out. She was blissfully unaware of all that was happening and all that could go wrong this morning. Courtney had spent the night here, unable to bring herself to go home to she and Jason's empty penthouse. She needed the company; so had Carly. Speaking of Carly, the older woman stepped out of the kitchen.

"Are you ready?" she asked, wringing her hands nervously.

Before Courtney could admit she was as ready as she was ever going to be, Michael came pounding down the stairs.

"Why didn't Daddy and Uncle Jason come home last night?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

Courtney and Carly exchanged worried glances. How could they answer that question honestly without scaring the boy?

Carly calmly guided her son to the couch and sat him down, splaying her arm across the back of the sofa as she sat next to him. "Well, Michael, you remember Ric, right?" she began tentatively.

"He's the bad man who hurt you and Aunt Courtney," Michael piped up.

The bad man...the words were so simple and childish, and yet they described Ric so much better than bigger words ever could. Courtney shook her head to clear it. It wasn't a good idea to think about Ric more than she had to.

"That's right," Carly agreed. "And you know that your daddy would do _anything_ to protect us, right?"

"Right..."

Carly drew in a deep breath, and began to explain. "Well, last night, Ric did something very bad to me and he was going to do something even worse to Elizabeth--you remember Elizabeth, don't you?"

Michael nodded. "She was nice to me when you went away before me and you and Daddy became a family again."

Courtney smiled. She wished she were a kid. Everything was so black and white back then.

"Well, um..." Carly trailed off, biting her lip. "It's all very complicated...but Ric died."

"Did Daddy kill him?"

Carly and Courtney looked at each other again, eyes wide. Carly couldn't seem to find the words to speak. Courtney immediately went to the couch, putting an arm around her nephew and looking straight into his eyes. "Look, Michael, you have to understand. What your dad did was wrong, okay, but there was no other way. If he hadn't done it, there's no telling what Ric would have done to Elizabeth. He only did it so Elizabeth wouldn't be hurt." She said it all forcefully, wanting to make it very clear that this was not an okay thing, but Sonny wasn't a bad person.

Michael scrunched up his face. "If he was only keeping Elizabeth safe, why didn't he come home? Did he and Uncle Jason have to run away?"

Tears prickled the back of Courtney's eyes. How could he know so much at such a young age?

"No, sweetie," Carly stepped in. "The police...they don't believe that your daddy was protecting Elizabeth. They think he and your Uncle Jason hurt Ric because they didn't like him."

"Did they arrest them?"

Carly took another long breath. "Yes. Yes, they did."

Michael leapt up. "But that's not fair!" he shouted.

Carly shook her head in agreement, a faraway look in her eyes. "No, it's not."

"They can't send him to jail! I'm going to stop them!" Michael began to dash toward the door. Courtney had to dive after him and was barely able to get a hold of him before he reached it.

"No, Michael, you can't."

"Let go of me!"

Holding him firmly in place, she knelt to be on his level. "Michael, it's not going to help, okay? The police won't listen to you. We tried to get through to them. Believe me, we tried. And so did lots of other people. Me, Jason, Elizabeth, your mom and dad...we all saw what happened but the police don't believe any of us. Do you think your dad would want you running off on your own and trying to fix something that isn't your fault?"

Michael's shoulders slumped, and all the energy that had been there a moment before drained out of him. "No."

"What would Sonny want you to do?"

"He'd want me to take care of Mommy."

Courtney couldn't help smiling. Yes, that was exactly what Sonny would want. "I know it's hard, but we have got to be strong and brave and take care of each other. It's the only thing we can do for Sonny and Jason. It's the best thing we can do for them." She didn't even realize how true her words were until they were actually spoken.

"When are Daddy and Uncle Jason coming home?" Michael asked in a small voice, looking to his mother.

"Maybe today, sweetie, but I don't know for sure. We're going to see about that now."

"Will you give Daddy and Uncle Jason a hug for me?"

Carly smiled. "Of course I will. Me and Aunt Courtney will give them lots and lots of hugs to show them just how much we love them."

Michael wrapped his arms around her neck. "I love you, Mommy."

Carly's eyes glistened. "I love you, too, Mr. Man." She sniffed and pulled away. "Why don't you go upstairs and see if Leticia will take you to the park while we're gone, all right?"

The energy was back in an instant. "Okay!" He scampered up the stairs.

"God, this is awful. What if they don't get out on bail? What's that going to do to Michael? He's just a little boy."

Carly took Courtney's hands. "Michael will be fine, and so will we." With newfound determination, she said, "Come on, let's go," guiding them to the door.

---------------

Zander sat in the lounge, constantly turning his wheelchair to look at the clock. He was sure he was driving everyone around him crazy by being so fidgety. He couldn't help it.

"I got your call, Alexander," a voice rang out behind him. "Is something wrong?"

Zander quickly turned his wheelchair to face his father. "I need a favor."

--------------

Carly and Courtney sat inside the courtroom, making small talk as they waited for their men to be brought out. Dara Jensen was paging through a file up front, while across the aisle, Scott Baldwin was lounging, not bothering to review his case, as cocky and as big an ass as ever. All the Quartermaines with the exception of Monica, Lila, and Emily, the only three Jason gave a damn about, were there in an attempt to show support for the son who considered them strangers. Alan had passed along everyone's messages of love and support, which Carly had begrudging agreed to in turn pass along to Jason. Then there was A.J. Sitting there. Grinning. No doubt thrilled at the thought of sending his brother and mortal enemy off to jail. Courtney was disgusted.

"Look at him," she spat. "I cannot believe I was married to him."

"Yeah, well, neither can I," Carly said with the same tone she might use in speaking of slime.

Courtney raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten her ex-husband was also Carly's. She supposed it didn't matter. The mistake was in the past, where it was going to stay. Today was all about the men they loved now, both of whom deserved to be loved and supported.

They heard the clicking of heels and turned to see who the newest arrival was. Courtney's eyes met Elizabeth's and held for a long moment. Then Elizabeth let Lucky, his arm around her, guide her to a seat across the aisle from Courtney and Carly. Courtney felt a smile tug at her mouth. It was good to see Elizabeth here. Jason and Sonny needed all the support they could get, and whether she was particularly fond of Elizabeth or not didn't matter.

Then Sonny and Jason arrived, lead in through a side door.

The two woman stood up together, their breath catching in their throats. They couldn't go to them, but with their eyes they did. Courtney's followed Jason from the moment he set foot inside the courtroom until he was forced to turn away from her and sit. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest.

The bailiff interrupted the moment, bellowing out the introduction. "All rise." With the rustle of clothing and the scraping of chairs, the people rose. "This court is now in session, the honorable Edison Prudence preceding. Please be seated." With the same rustling and scraping, everyone sat down. Sonny looked over his shoulder at Carly. She waved to him.

"Good morning, Your Honor," Dara Jensen greeted respectfully.

"Yeah, good morning, Your Honor." Baldwin said it flippantly, but what else could be expected from a pompous, overbearing rooster?

Judge Prudence regarded them both disdainfully, and then his gaze swept the entire courtroom, examining not only the people within it but the tables, the walls, the ceiling...everything. Seemingly satisfied that everything, humans included, were in place, he barked at the bailiff, "What do we have here?"

"The people vs. Michael "Sonny" Corinthos and Jason Morgan on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder and murder in the first degree," the bailiff announced in the same bellow.

"Well, well, well." The words were not reassuring. Neither was the way the judge breezed over the papers before him, nor the disinterested tone in which he said, "I assume you want bail?" without so much as a glance Dara's way.

Dara stood. "Yes, your honor."

"Proceed." He still did not look at her.

"Your honor, my clients have never before been convicted of a violent crime. They are both very successful businessmen and have done much charity work in this city. They do, however, own a private jet, but they both have significant ties to the community, including those to their families. Mrs. Corinthos and Mr. Morgan's fiance are present in the courtroom today. Both women are--"

"I don't see the relevance of that fact, Ms. Jensen." The judge talked right over her. "Get to the point, and get to it quickly."

Dara didn't flinch. "Yes, Your Honor. I am, Your Honor. Both Mrs. Corinthos and Mr. Morgan's fiance are expecting a baby, so I don't see that Mr. Corinthos and Mr. Morgan pose a flight risk. We ask for minimal bail." With a nod, Dara seated herself.

"Mr. Baldwin?" The judge addressed Scott the same way he had Dara--with disinterest and without looking. Courtney was getting the distinct, uncomfortable feeling that this man did not care at all that he held the fate of two men and so many others in his hands.

"Both Corinthos and Morgan have records the length of my arm!" Baldwin nearly shouted. "And, come on, we all know that they're _guilty_, even if they've never been convicted!"

Dara leapt up immediately, fire in her eyes. "Objection, Your Honor--"

"This is not a criminal trial, Ms. Jensen," the judge snapped, the first look he gave her scathing. "It is a bail hearing. Bail is denied." Courtney barely heard the second half of what the judge said. "Both Mr. Corinthos and Mr. Morgan are to be detained at Pentonville Prison until trial. This court is adjourned." The judge stood and breezed out of the courtroom.

Courtney felt Carly's hand gripping her own, but everything was so far away. This couldn't be happening. But Sonny and Jason were already being lead away. She knew it was. She and Carly remained where they were, stunned and in total disbelief.

---------------

It was afternoon when Emily wheeled herself over to Zander. Her mother had broken the news as gently as possible, but it didn't make it any easier. Seeing Zander in his wheelchair, waiting by the doors into the parking lot made it all seem to real. They sat in silence for a time, their wheelchairs close enough for their knees to touch. "So this is it," she finally said, the words coming out on a breath.

Zander nodded jerkily, as if he were as in as much disbelief as she. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"I wish I could go with you," she said, trying to keep her voice strong, but her true feelings leaked into it anyway. She felt her eyes burning with unshed tears. No, she wouldn't cry. Not over what had to be done.

Zander reached out, running a hand over her cheek. She closed her eyes as he spoke. "I know you do. I do, too. But you need to stay here and get well, and so do I."

"I'll be there," she said fiercely. "The second my cancer goes into remission, I will come to you."

He smiled. "I know you will."

Emily reached into her sweatsuit, lifting a tiny silver heart pendant from beneath it, letting it dangle over her fingers. "Remember this?"

How could he forget? "That's the necklace I gave you when you went into rehab." He could hardly believe that after everything that had happened, she still kept it, still kept him.

She started to speak, hesitated, and then found her voice again. "Will you wear it for me?" She looked away after she said it, rolling her eyes at herself. "I know, it's incredibly girly and the last thing you want to do is go around with a heart pendant dangling from your neck--"

Zander interrupted her with a simple smile and touch. "I'll wear it. I'd be honored to."

Emily giggled as she reached back to unclasp the necklace.

"Okay, I admit it, that was a little over the top." One of the things she loved about Zander, the way he was capable of laughing at himself.

"Just a little," she said, clipping the necklace around his neck, and staring at it for a moment before she tucked it under his shirt. "There."

They smiled at each other. Emily enjoying the closeness of this moment, Zander trying to work up the courage for what he had to say next. "There's something I want you to wear for me, too, I mean, if you're ready." It all came out in a rush.

Emily's eyebrows shot up. "Oh?"

Zander reached into his shirt pocket, where he'd tucked it away. He needed it to be somewhere he could get to it easily. He'd asked for his father's help in getting it, since he couldn't leave the hospital, and Cameron had readily agreed. He held it out to her. "I love you, Emily Quartermaine. I want you to take this ring. It means that I want to love you as long as we can, and that's forever. Will you be my wife?"

Emily's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes growing wide as she stared at the tiny diamond ring.

Her reaction scared him a little. "Emily?"

Her eyes moved to his, and her hands fell away. "Yes," she said, with so much feeling. "Oh, yes. When this is all over, I will marry you."

Zander slipped the ring onto her finger, and then clasped her face in his hands. "I'm going to come back to you. And you're going to be healthy and well. And I'm going to walk you down the aisle. And when everyone is gone, I'm going to take you outside and we're going to dance together under a streetlight, under the stars."

Emily laughed. "Just like we did on prom night."

"Just like we did on prom night," he repeated with just a hint of a smile, completely serious.

They both spied Monica, holding back so as not to interrupt this moment, but they both knew it was time. "I'm going to miss you so much," Emily whispered.

"I'm going to miss you, too. But you know what? It's going to be worth it." He twirled the ring that was never ever going to leave her finger.

Monica finally approached, taking a deep breath before she spoke. "Everything's ready. It's time to go."

Zander reached out and squeezed Emily's hand one last time. "This isn't goodbye."

She squeezed back. "I know it's not."

Then she sat back and watched them wheel him away, out into the parking lot. He looked back a few times, his smile a reassurance. Then he disappeared from sight. The tears came no matter how hard to she tried to hold them back.

---------------

Somehow Dara had been able to convince Mac to let them say their goodbyes. He overruled all of Baldwin's protests, insisting it was his department. He didn't back down at any of Baldwin's threats. Carly and Courtney were very grateful. They had decided Carly would go to Jason first, while Courtney said goodbye to Sonny. That way they'd have their final moments with the ones their hearts belonged to.

The moment Carly walked over to Jason, she began to talk, and it all came out in a rush. "You know how I feel, right? You know you've been everything. I know that you have been everything to me and--"

"Carly, I understand," Jason said gently, his voice calming her as it always did. "It's okay."

She wiped her nose. "What am I going to do if you're not there to catch me when I fall?"

"It's not like this is forever, Carly. Besides, I trust you. Now you need to trust yourself."

"I don't know if I can."

"You'll never know if you don't try. Can you do something for me?"

He had to ask? After all he had done for her? "You know I will."

"Look after Courtney. This is going to be hard on her. Just, take care of her for me."

"I will." She hugged him, ignoring the displeased glares of the policemen around them. "God, I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," he said, his voice even and steady, but she knew this was breaking his heart as much as hers.

---------------

Courtney and Sonny had the interrogation room to themselves. Neither of them had spoken yet. They both just stared at the door after Mac had forced Scotty to give them some privacy.

Courtney spoke first, unable to keep silent any longer. "I can't believe I'm not going to be able to see you for three months."

"You can visit," Sonny said with a shrug. He wasn't asking or ordering her to, but she knew it was really an invitation. He wanted to see her.

"I will. I promise I will. But it's not the same, you know?" She dabbed at the tears that she couldn't hold back. God, she'd cried most of the night, how come she wasn't all dried up yet?

"Don't tell me you're going to miss me telling you what to do, running your life, monitoring your diet..." Sonny flashed his trademark dimples as he rattled off the list of things that irritated the heck out of her.

She laughed, and admitted, "Actually, I will."

He jerked his head back in mock shock. "You will?"

"Yeah. I mean, this baby is bound to turn out to be healthy on your diet, right?" She said it was another laugh, but Sonny could see straight through the joke to her more serious concerns.

He stepped closer to her, tipping her chin up with his handcuffed hands. "Hey, look at me. Jason's a fighter, and so are you. This baby's gonna be fine."

Courtney looked down at her stomach, a few tears falling. "How about that, baby? Your Uncle Sonny says you're going to be okay, and he must be right because Uncle Sonny is _always_ right."

They both shared a laugh over that, and the silence that followed was more comfortable. Sonny gave her the time to get control of her emotions, and then he spoke again, out of the blue, as he sometimes did. "You know, growing up, I always wanted a brother. Younger, older, it didn't matter. Just someone to look out for, someone to look out for me, you know? I got what I wanted."

Courtney smiled sadly, images of the day before flashing through her mind. "And he turned out to be a nightmare."

"No, forget Ric. Ric's not—he wasn't family. He wasn't my brother. Ric's nothing. I wasn't talking about Ric. I was talking about you. You're the brother I always wanted. Except, you know, you're my sister. It's the same thing really. I mean, I look out for you, you look out for me. No strings attached, no need to say how we really feel, just being there whenever we need to be, you know? I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world."

For the longest moment she didn't know what to say. Then she just wrapped her arms around him and said the words aloud for the first time ever. "I love you, Sonny."

"Yeah, I love you, too."

Courtney felt like laughing. She'd been half expecting him to tell her not to go all mushy on him. He didn't disappoint her.

"But, you know, don't go around telling anybody or anything. I got a reputation to uphold."

Now she did laugh. "Your secret's safe with me."

He kissed her forehead because he couldn't hug her back and looked down at her, smiling. "I know." He said it really softly. If Scott Baldwin hadn't come into the room at that exact moment, Courtney was pretty sure that one of them would have started crying.

They both shifted gears. "Take care of yourself, okay? I'm kind of getting used to having you around."

"Yeah, you, too."

Courtney threw a glare in Scotty's direction as she walked out of the room.

---------------

Carly had barely sat down across from her husband before she gave voice to her insane plan. "I'll talk to your men; I'll have them break you out. I'll go to Luke if I have to! God knows how many times he's broken out of jail."

"Carly, Carly...no. I'm not going to leave Jason to take the fall."

"I'll have him broken out, too!" she snapped.

Sonny shook his head. "Carly, _no_. I'm not going to live my life as a fugitive. I think Jason would say the same thing. You and Courtney and the children deserve better than that."

"But you're claustrophobic, Sonny. What if the guards see that? What about the other prisoners?"

Carly was clearing the one suffering the panic attack at the moment. He shrugged off her suggestions, trying to reassure her. "I'll be fine."

"Stop saying that!" she practically screamed.

He reached over and took her hands. "I mean it, Carly. Whenever it gets bad, I'll just think about you. You're everything to me, you know that?"

Carly stared at their interlocked hands for awhile, and finally nodded. For once, she was speechless. She couldn't come up with the words to say goodbye.

---------------

She and Jason didn't say anything. They didn't have to. They just held hands and stared into each other's eyes. Looking into Jason's eyes, Courtney realized the thing that she feared most was never going to happen. They could lock Jason up forever and a day, but she was never going to lose him. She would always carry him in her heart, and he would always carry her. No one and nothing could break that bond, and in a few months, they would have a beautiful baby--a living piece of Jason, a life they had created.

"We'll wait," Courtney said, taking Jason's cuffed hands and pressing them flat against her stomach, smiling even through her tears. "We'll wait as long as it takes."

In Jason's eyes, she had never been more beautiful.

---------------


	30. Chapter Thirty

The Fallout

Chapter Thirty

Looking back, Courtney couldn't figure out how she made it through that summer without Jason. She supposed she had to give a lot of the credit to Carly. The woman was unbelievably strong and determined, and she had unshakable faith that Sonny and Jason would be found not guilty and thus return to them. The first few days were unbearable. Courtney could hardly stand being in she and Jason's penthouse. It was so empty and at the same time so full...full of memories and reminders. Everywhere she turned, she saw a bit of Jason. His pool table, his leather jacket, some paperwork he'd never gotten around to doing, a photo of them together at the loft on the bookshelf. Whenever she curled up on the couch, she felt something was missing. And there was. Jason's arms wrapped protectively and comfortingly around her were missing. Then she had to get up and go across the hall to Carly, who must be just as lonely without Sonny, except she had Michael to keep her occupied.

By the end of the week, she was talking to Carly about this, and the older woman immediately extended an invitation; whenever it the emptiness became too much, she was more than welcome to take the spare room in her penthouse. Courtney declined. As hard it as it was to be surrounded by Jason without him actually being there, it was harder not to. Still, Carly kept after her, dragging her back to her job as hostess of The Cellar, drowning them both in enough work to keep their minds occupied. Courntey spent nearly every waking hour with Carly and Michael. The little boy was taking her words from earlier very seriously--he was constantly bringing them huge glasses of milk and stubbornly waiting until he was sure his aunt and mother had drunk down every last drop. Carly often complained that if she drank anymore, she was going to blow up like a balloon and pop. It didn't take long before the sight of milk made Courtney queasy. She often wondered whether Sonny would have been quite this aggressive in his pursuit of making sure she and her baby were healthy. She honestly didn't think so.

With Faith, Alcazar, and Ric all dead, their wasn't much to worry about on the business front. Myer took care of it, and Courtney and Carly were happy to have him do so.

Then A.J. showed up on the penthouse floor, overconfidently expressing his intentions of regaining custody of Michael. Courtney was furious. How dare he try to take advantage of this situation? He was repulsive, dispicable. How could she ever have been so naive as to be in love with him? She had to shake her head and push those thoughts away: it had happened, she couldn't change it, but it was over and she had learned from this mistake. She'd grown up from that little girl who gullably believed in everything. She stood up alongside Carly, battling A.J. with everything she had. Once he came to her with an offer--if she left Jason forever and came back to him, he'd let this thing go. Courtney was repulsed. Never could she did that, to Jason or herself. Besides, Dara assured them that if Jason and Sonny were found not guilty, A.J. would not have a leg to stand on in a custody battle. He had signed all his rights to Michael away, and Sonny was legally Michael's father. Only a conviction would threaten that.

But there wouldn't be a conviction. Jason and Sonny were innocent.

Courtney allowed herself to get so tied up in the A.J. thing that she managed to push all thoughts of the possible ill health of her baby as a result of the experimental medication she'd been given from her head. But the day of the ultrasound arrived anyway.

---------------

Courtney lay on the hospital bed, trying hard to relax. It was no use. She was anxious, terrified. And those feelings were not going to go away until she heard that her baby was okay.

Carly was pacing, which wasn't helping matters. She kept going round and round the room, her hands placed firmly on her hips, biting her lip and counting the tiles she walked over repeatedly.

Courtney found herself imitating her, capturing her own lip with her teeth, but rolling her eyes to the ceiling instead of the floor. "God, I'm nervous," she forced out.

"You're nervous?" Carly asked, turning around and beginning to babble a million words a minute. "Why are you nervous? There's no reason to be nervous." She wasn't convincing anyone, not even herself.

Courtney laughed at her. "You're just as nervous as I am."

"No, I'm not!" Carly noisily objected. When Courtney's only reaction was to gaze upon her with raised eyebrows and a hint of a smile, she gave in with a sigh. "Okay, so I am."

"It's all right, Carly. I'm nervous, too."

"Yeah, but you're the mother. You have the right to be nervous. Me, I'm just a friend. I should be being encouraging or supportive or something!"

"You're being all those things by just being here." Courtney blew out a breath. She couldn't help the smile that came back to her lips. "Though, I have to admit, it would help if you'd stop pacing."

Carly immediately snatched a stool and mounted it. "This is me not pacing."

They shared a laugh, and just like that Dr. Meadows appeared, clipboard in hand and glasses perched on her nose, same as always. Her eyes were warm and sincere, but Courtney's heart began to race anyway. "Good morning, Miss Matthews. Good to see you again, Mrs. Corinthos. It seems only a few weeks ago we had a first look at your own baby."

Carly grinned at the memory of the first time she'd seen her son, Morgan Stone Corinthos. It had been only a few weeks ago, and it had been amazing, moving she and Courtney equally. The only thing that could have made the moment better was if Sonny had been there. But she'd been able to bring a picture when she visited him in Pentonville, and though she couldn't give it to him, he'd been able to see it through the wall of plexiglass. Both moments she would never forget.

"Are you ready, Miss Matthews?" Dr. Meadows addressed the younger woman again.

Courtney forced a smile, trying to be as cheerful and optimistic as possible. _Don't think about what could be wrong..._ "Ready as I'll ever be."

Carly gave her hand a tight squeeze and didn't let go as Dr. Meadows got the machine ready. The jelly was slick and cold on Courtney's bulging belly, but the pad connected to the machine slid easily. At first, all they could make out on the screen was blue, purple, and black blurriness, but then the baby came into focus. Courtney's breath caught in her chest.

Dr. Meadow's began pointing out the parts. "There are it's hands...it's feet..."

Courtney could make them all out. As amazing as it had been to see Morgan for the first time, this was ten times more so. This was her own child, a little life that she and Jason had created. She couldn't believe how small it was, how _real_ it was. The moment was magical.

"That's my baby!" she found herself whispering, her eyes filling with happy tears.

"She's beautiful." Dr. Meadow's was beaming.

Courtney couldn't tear her eyes from the screen. "It's a girl?"

The doctor was still smiling. "Yes."

"Jason with a little girl. I'm so happy for you!" Carly was practically squealling.

A little girl. They were having a little girl. Just like Courtney had always dreamed. "But...what about...what about her health?"

Dr. Meadow's squinted at the screen, her smile gone. Her expression was one of pure concentration as she studied the image before her, zooming in and out, seeing things in the grainy image that Carly and Courtney could not. Suddenly, she gave a sharp nod. "Your baby would appear to be perfectly healthy."

Courtney wasn't sure she could trust her ears. "Really?" Her voice was barely audible.

Dr. Meadows smiled. "Really."

Carly grabbed Courtney and pulled her into a hug. Both women were laughing and crying simultaniously.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it! I can't wait to tell Jason!"

"You're visiting him next week!"

Carly's reminder made Courtney freeze. She started shaking her head. "No. I can't tell him then."

Carly pulled away, her smile gone. "What?"

"I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait until the jury finds the both of them not guilty, and then I'm going to tell him. It'll be the perfect surprise."

"Yes, it will," Carly agreed.

---------------


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**The Fallout**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Courtney couldn't sleep at all that night. She tossed and turned restlessly, but no matter how hard she tried to get comfortable, she couldn't. Finally, as the first rays of morning light poked through the bulletproof glass in their bedroom, she gave up, rising from the bed to gaze out upon the dawn. She stared out the window for a long time, taking in the beauty of the world. Her hand moved unconsciously to her protruding belly. She looked down at it, and then turned to look at the bed. The comforter and sheets were rumpled from her fitful night. She could remember the deep, peaceful sleep she'd slipped into so many times in that bed when Jason's arms were wrapped around her, comforting her, protecting her, keeping her safe through the night.

Today was the day of the trial. Today she would find out whether Jason would ever hold her through the night again.

Courtney brushed away a tear that had begun tracing a path down her cheek and went to get dressed. She went through her entire wardrobe, laying it all out, looking for something appropriate. She hadn't seen Jason in months, and she wanted to look beautiful for him, especially since this could very well be the last time he ever saw her. It was all she could do not to break down in tears at the thought. She chose a long skirt and a close-fitting sweater. She was pregnant and not at all ashamed to show it to the world.

She crossed the hall to PH2, forcing a smile across her face when Johnny opened the door for her. She walked into her brother's penthouse, and found Carly also already awake and dressed. Only weeks from her due date, Carly had made the same choice as Courtney—not to conceal her pregnancy. She wore a burgundy sweater and loose black slacks, a portion of her hair tied back. Courtney could tell she'd applied her makeup as carefully as she had herself.

They opened their arms to each other and hugged, not saying a single word.

---------------

With the exception of Dara, Baldwin, and the bailiff, Carly and Courtney were the first to arrive in the courtroom, but certainly not the last. The Quartermaine family arrived in full force. Alan, Monica, Edward, Lila, and Emily there to support, A.J. to condemn. Jasper Jacks wandered in soon after, offering the two women who would be affected most by the verdict phony condolences. Courtney had to hold Carly back to keep her from attacking him. Elizabeth came in, Lucky at her side. To support both his friend and his brother, Nikolas came as well. Gia wasn't far behind. She took a seat by Emily. Guards walked Sonny and Jason to their seats next to Dara.

Courtney's breath caught in her throat as her eyes locked with Jason. She saw a smile tug at his lips at the sight of her. She put a hand on her stomach and then waved, to say that the baby said hi. Jason's smile grew until the guard roughly shoved him into his seat.

The arrivals weren't quite finished. Moments before the trial began, in wheeled Zander Smith.

Monica clutched her daughter's hand. "Emily, look!"

Emily turned, and nearly fell over as she flew across the aisle and into his arms. "Zander!" she exclaimed.

He laughed at her, giving her a tight hug. She pulled away just long enough to ask, "What are you doing here?"

Zander's smile faded away. "I was subpoenaed…by the prosecution."

Emily's mouth fell open.

The bailiff stood before any more could be said. "All rise." Emily took Zander's arm as he stood, just in case. "This court is now in session, the Honorable Judge Edison Prudence presiding."

The judge swept across the floor, taking his seat behind the podium. He surveyed the crowd for an uncomfortably long time. Then he picked up his gavel, slammed it and barked, "Sit down!"

The entire courtroom jumped, and then hastened to obey. The judge glared at Baldwin. "I trust the prosecution is ready to proceed?" he sneered.

Baldwin leapt up again. "Yes, your honor."

"Then what are you waiting for?" the judge snapped. "Call your first witness!"

Seeming a tad frazzled, Scotty addressed the twelve individuals seated in a boxed-in area to the right of the courtroom. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution calls Courtney Matthews to the stand."

Courtney sat up straight in her seat, completely stunned. She hadn't been warned of this. Sonny and Jason were staring at her. She stared back. _I had no idea_, she tried to silently communicate.

"We don't have all day, Ms. Matthews," Judge Prudence drawled, drumming his fingers on his podium.

Courtney stood up and walked to the stand. The bailiff asked her to raise her right hand and place her left on the Bible.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do," she responded, her voice coming out barely above a whisper.

Scott Baldwin approached the stand. "For the record, Ms. Matthews is the half-sister of defendant Mr. Corinthos and the fiancé of co-defendant Mr. Morgan."

"Proceed," Judge Prudence instructed in a bored tone.

"Is it safe to say that you and the victim Ric Lansing didn't get along?"

Dara popped up immediately. "Objection! Relevance, Your Honor."

The judge waved a disinterested hand. "Overruled. Answer the question."

"Yes, it is," Courtney responded.

"Now, why didn't you get along?"

Courtney let out a short laugh. "Where do you want me to start?"

That caught the judge's attention. "Witnesses are not permitted to question the counsel. Answer the question directly, Ms. Matthews, or I will hold you in contempt of this court!"

Taken aback, it took a moment for Courtney to recover her voice. When she did, she found that it dripped with venom. "Ric Lansing was my half-brother's half-brother. He was bitter because his mother decided to give up Ric for adoption instead of Sonny. He hated Sonny. He was obsessed with getting revenge. So he threw in with Sonny's enemies. He left me to die in a mineshaft. He even tried to blackmail me into marrying him." She couldn't help smiling without humor at how pathetic it had been. "He made my sister-in-law, Carly, think he'd raped her, and then he blackmailed her about it."

"Well, we all know Mrs. Corinthos likes it rough," Scott commented dryly.

Mouths dropped throughout the courtroom. Sonny began to rise from his seat, but Jason pulled him back down. Dara was on her feet in an instant. "Objection, Your Honor!"

"Sustained! The jury will disregard the prosecution's out-of-line commentary. Mind yourself, Mr. Baldwin, or I will hold _you_ in contempt!" The judge appeared just as enraged as Sonny. It was good to know he didn't play favorites with his fury. He turned to Courtney and instructed her sternly to continue.

There wasn't much more to say. "I love my family. Ric Lansing wanted to destroy us. That's why it's safe to say we didn't get along."

"Didn't Ric Lansing shoot you in the beginning of June?"

Courtney drew in a sharp breath at the memory. "Yes, he did."

"Why don't you tell us about that?"

"I had been in Europe, visiting a friend. I'd just gotten back. It was late, and I was walking home. I decided to go past the docks. I heard a gunshot and yelling and went to see what it was about."

"Now what would you go and do a stupid thing like that for?"

"Objection, Your Honor!" Dara again.

"Sustained. We don't need the prosecution to point out Ms. Matthews's lack of intelligence when we can clearly see how foolhardy she is ourselves." It was Jason who tried to rise from his seat this time, and it was Sonny who pulled him back down. The judge charged onward. "Rephrase the question, Mr. Baldwin."

"Why did you choose to go investigate the sound of the gunshot?"

"I don't know," Courtney replied honestly. "I know it was foolish, but I just had a funny feeling about it. When I did, I saw Sonny, Ric, and Ric's father, Trevor, standing on the docks, arguing. Ric was holding a gun on Sonny."

**Flashback**

_Sonny: Go ahead and shoot me! _I'm not afraid of dying!

_Ric holding the gun steady, sparks flying from his eyes. He pressed down on the trigger..._

_Courtney: screaming Nooooo!_

**end flashback**

"What did you do?"

"I threw myself at Sonny. We fell off the docks, into the water. I didn't realize I'd been hit at first. I mostly only noticed how cold the water was. Sonny got me to shore."

"Did either Jason or Sonny mention they were gonna kill Ric for shooting you?"

"Objection, Your Honor!"

"Sustained. Rephrase the question or move along."

"Did either Jason or Sonny threaten Mr. Lansing in your presence?"

"I don't understand the question."

"It's a simple question. Did either of them verbally threaten Ric's life while you were in the room, after you'd been shot?"

"Object—"

"Overruled. Answer the question, Ms. Matthews."

**flashback**

Sonny:_ on the phone with Ric "If you do anything to her, I swear I'll--"_

Ric:_ What, Sonny? Kill me? That threat's rather empty, isn't it? I'm already dead. You made sure of that._

**end flashback**

Ric had cut Sonny's threat off. "No," Courtney replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"The day after you returned home from the hospital, the day that Ric was murdered—"

"Objection, Your Honor! Mr. Lansing was killed in self-defense!"

"Sustained. Rephrase."

"That day, the Corinthos-Morgan coffee warehouse blew up, correct?"

Courtney tipped her head in agreement. "That is correct."

"Can you account for your husband's and brother's whereabouts that day?"

She shrugged. "They had a business meeting."

Baldwin's eyes widened in anticipation of where he could now take this line of inquiry. "What kind of meeting?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Sonny and Jason don't discuss business with me."

"Really? Why's that? Because the business is illegal—"

"Objection!"

"—and they don't want you to be able to testify against them?"

Dara was on her feet. "The prosecutor is badgering his own witness!"

"Sustained! Control yourself, Mr. Baldwin!"

"Could Sonny and Jason have lied to you about the meeting?"

"Yes, they could have, but they didn't."

"How do you know?"

"They wouldn't!"

"Is it possible that Sonny and Jason could have planted a bomb in their own warehouse during the time they claimed they were having a business meeting?"

Murmurs erupted in the courtroom.

"Objection, Your Honor! Speculation!"

"Sustained! Stick to the facts, Mr. Baldwin!"

"No further questions."

Dara moved up to cross-examine Courtney. "Tell us about the day Ric Lansing was shot."

"Like I said, Sonny and Jason were at a business meeting. When they came back, we heard about the warehouse explosion on the news. Sonny and Jason left again, and Carly had to go too. She had a check-up for the baby. I was alone at my brother's penthouse when he came back. The phone rang. It was Ric—"

"Objection! How could she have known it was Ric?"

"Sonny told me!"

"Couldn't he have lied?"

"Overruled! _Sit down_, Mr. Baldwin! Continue, Ms. Matthews."

Courtney drew in a deep breath, trying to get control of her temper. "Ric told Sonny he had Carly, and if he ever wanted to see her again, to meet him at the abandoned warehouse by Pier 52. Sonny left. I had a feeling that it was a set-up, so I went after him. I ran into Ric's wife, Elizabeth, in the park, and she talked me into letting her go with me. She thought she could talk Ric out of hurting anybody. When we got there, Ric was holding Carly at gunpoint, and he and Sonny were yelling things at each other in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, but Ric shouted in English that Sonny had killed Elizabeth. Ric had thought that Elizabeth had been killed in the warehouse explosion. At any rate, Elizabeth and I went in, and she talked Ric into letting Carly go. Then Ric grabbed Elizabeth and put the gun to his head. The angle it was at, the bullet would have gone through Ric's head and into hers, too."

"Objection, Your Honor! Speculation! Ms. Matthews isn't a brain surgeon…and good riddance about that!"

"Sustained. Will the jury please take into account the fact Ms. Matthews is not a doctor and does not know if the bullet would have gone through."

"What happened next, Courtney?" Dara prodded.

"Sonny shot Ric to save Elizabeth."

"No further questions, Your Honor." Dara retreated to her seat next to Sonny and Jason.

"Ms. Matthews, you may step down."

Courtney did so. Carly squeezed her hand.

After that, Baldwin systematically called people to the stand. He summoned Carly, Zander, and Elizabeth. He proved that Ric had never told Carly the exact reason why he'd kidnapped her. He got Zander to testify about the time he was in Sonny and Jason's bad graces, and the only thing that had saved him was Elizabeth. Then he used Elizabeth to confirm this and that Courtney had been shot, and then he tried to get her to contradict herself about the night Ric had been shot. In cross-examination, Dara got Elizabeth to testify to how she was scared for her life and did think that Ric was going to kill her. She also told about the phone call from Faith trying to lure her to the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse, and how she believed this was why Ric thought she was dead.

The prosecution rested its case, and after that, Dara had only one witness to call—the woman who lived across from the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. She testified to seeing Faith and Alcazar enter the building before it exploded.

The whole trial moved along rather quickly. Judge Prudence told the counsel to present their closing arguments. Baldwin stepped forward and launched into a summary of his trumped up Murder One charge.

"Who hasn't heard of the mobster Sonny Corinthos and his enforcer Jason Morgan? Port Charles is always caught in the middle of their wars with other factions of the mob. Seems like everybody's got a personal vendetta against them, with good reason. Ric Lansing was one of these people, and he got in way over his head. The only thing that kept him alive was his blood tie to Sonny Corinthos, but once he shot Courtney, all bets were off. I believe that Sonny and Jason kidnapped Ric Lansing, and were planning to blow up their own warehouse to kill him. Only Ric escaped and kidnapped Mrs. Corinthos to protect himself. He planned to make a trade with Sonny…Carly for his life. But then Elizabeth and Courtney showed up, and because he loved Elizabeth and didn't want to appear less in her eyes, he let Carly go. When he realized that Jason and Sonny intended to kill him anyway, he attempted to escape with his wife. So he took her "hostage" without intending to harm her. Sonny shot him. We all have heard how witnesses to alleged crimes by Corinthos and Morgan have a tendency to disappear or change their stories. Maybe they threatened Elizabeth, maybe they threatened her grandmother. At any rate, they got her to conform to this self-defense story. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is your responsibility to get these men off the streets. Granted, Ric Lansing wasn't a sterling example of a public servant, but he deserves justice just the same. Maybe then his widow can have some peace."

Carly rolled her eyes throughout the speech.

Dara stepped forward to give her own closing argument. "Ric Lansing was a psychopath, obsessed with getting revenge on his brother and willing to do anything to get it. He attacked Mr. Corinthos's family, trying to get to him through Carly, through Courtney. Mr. Corinthos could easily have killed his brother for the things he had done, but he let him live. It was not that night on the docks, when Courtney stepped between her brother and Ric's bullet, that set the chain of events that would take Ric Lansing's life in motion. Instead, it was a phone call from Faith Roscoe. Faith Roscoe called Elizabeth Webber-Lansing and tried to lure her to the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. It was Faith Roscoe who then called Ric Lansing and told him that Elizabeth was at the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. It was Faith Roscoe who planted the bomb at the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. When Ric heard about the explosion, he decided to take from his brother what he thought Sonny had taken from him. So he took Carly Corinthos captive, and called his brother. His plan would have worked perfectly, had Courtney Matthews not overheard the phone call and decided to go after her brother. Elizabeth and Courtney showing up at the warehouse changed everything. Ric could not kill someone in front of his wife. He let Carly go, and took Elizabeth instead. There is no way for us to know what was going on inside Ric's head, but he did say that he would not live without Elizabeth. He raised the gun to his own head, positioned so the bullet would go through his and enter Elizabeth's as well, taking them both into eternity. That was when Mr. Corinthos shot Ric Lansing. This is a close-and-shut case of self-defense. There is and was no conspiracy."

Dara Jensen sat down, closing her argument and allowing the jury deliberations to begin.

---------------


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**The Fallout**

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

It had been another restless night for Courtney, and as soon as the sun peaked through her window, she was up, dressed, and on her way across the hall to see Carly.

Carly jumped when Courtney came through the door. She, like Courtney, was up and dressed and pacing, worrying and thinking too much.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Courtney asked as they both sat down, their postures tense.

Carly shook her head. "I couldn't. I just kept thinking about how I don't know what I'd do without Sonny and Jason. They can't go to jail. They just can't." Carly buried her face in her hands, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed. Courtney put a comforting arm around her. It was so hard to see Carly like this. Carly was always the strong one. But no one could be that strong all the time.

A familiar thumping made Courtney look toward the stairs. Michael was barreling down them with the enthusiasm only a young boy could have. Carly immediately sat up, pulling herself together for her son.

"Are Daddy and Uncle Jason coming home today?" he asked excitedly.

Carly and Courtney exchanged glanced, neither knowing quite what to say. Taking a deep breath, Courtney reached out a hand to her nephew, taking a hold of his wrist. "Well, we hope so, sweetie. Remember what your Mommy and I told you about a jury?" They'd had many talks with Michael over the months about what was happening to Daddy and Uncle Jason and how the legal system worked.

"Yeah…"

"Well, the jury is going to decide whether Daddy and Uncle Jason come home today or not."

"Hey, Michael, how about you go get Leticia to take you to the park?" Carly suggested.

The little boy shook his head hard. "I want to be here when Daddy and Uncle Jason come home."

"Daddy and Uncle Jason would want you to be outside having a good time, not cooped up waiting for them to come home. Don't worry. We won't let them come home without you here to welcome them home."

"Okay, Mommy." Michael gave her an impulsive hug and then took off up the stairs again to get his nanny.

"I can remember when I was his age, you know? Back when I used to believe in everything but didn't really know anything at all," Courtney spoke into the silence, smiling wistfully at the memory of how naïve she had been. Sometimes she wished she was still that little girl.

Carly shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I can't."

That was the end of their conversation. They put on big fake smiles when Michael and Leticia came downstairs. Leticia told them she'd make sure her cell phone was on in case their was any news, and that if it wasn't good, she'd let them pass it on to Michael. Then they left, leaving the two woman sitting in silence, staring at the telephone, waiting for the call.

And then it came. The shrill ring cutting into the silence like a knife. Courtney leapt up and went to the desk, scooping up the telephone.

"Hello?" she said, her voice a little shaky. She listened for a minute, then covered the receiver to address Carly. "It's Dara," she said.

Carly immediately stood up. Courtney listened a few moments more, and spoke to Carly again. "The jury has reached a verdict."

"Oh my God," Carly said. "That was fast. Why so fast? It's not good when it's fast."

"Okay, thanks, Dara, for everything. We'll be there." Courtney hung up, grabbing her purse from the chair in front of the desk. "The court is in session in fifteen minutes. Come on, let's go." She ran for the door, Carly right behind her.

--------------

Then reached the courtroom five minutes early. Everyone who'd been there yesterday to see the trial had gathered again, some to support, some not to. Carly and Courtney sat down, uncomfortable on the hard benches. Carly looked over at the Quartermaines, all gathered to support a son whom didn't even acknowledge them as family. It pulled at something in her heart. She got up, saying over her shoulder, "I'll be right back. There's something I need to do."

Behind her she could hear Courtney's confused voice saying okay, but she didn't stop to explain. Monica and Alan didn't look up until she was standing over them, wringing her hands anxiously.

"Carly." Monica sounded surprised to see her.

"Hi," she said, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "No matter what the outcome of the verdict is today…I'd like to come by sometime, with Michael, I mean, as long as A.J. isn't there." She let the words hang, growing more uncomfortable as they stared at her.

After what seemed like forever, Monica began to nod. "We'd like that. We'd like that a lot." She smiled. Carly smiled back.

--------------

While Carly was over with the Quartermaines, Courtney went over to see Elizabeth, who wasn't looking at all well. "Is everything okay?" Courtney asked her. 

"This is all my fault," Elizabeth responded.

Courtney shook her head. "Oh no, Elizabeth. This is all because of Ric." She spat the pitiful excuse for a man's name with venom.

"All because I was blind to who Ric really was. I can't believe I didn't see it. There were so many warning signs and I missed them all."

"You're not responsible for what Ric did, okay?"

"If I hadn't said it was Sonny who pushed me this never would have happened."

"Stop it, Elizabeth. You had no way of knowing Sonny hadn't pushed you. Yeah, you should have known Sonny isn't capable of something like that. But what Ric did is not your fault. You stood by the man you loved. That's nothing to be ashamed of. The second you realized what was going on, you did something about it."

"You and everybody else kept telling me who Ric was and I didn't listen."

"Everybody told me that AJ didn't love me, that he was just using me to get to Sonny. I didn't listen. I should have known not all those people could be wrong, but sometimes you need to figure things out for yourself. I don't blame you, Elizabeth. Sonny doesn't blame you. Don't blame yourself."

---------------

And then Sonny and Jason arrived, being escorted straight to their seats. Carly and Courtney stood up as they entered the room. They did not break eye contact until the guards accompanying them forced them to fact the dais. The jury filed in and took their seats. Courtney looked, but she couldn't read anything in their faces. They all looked like such normal people, yet they held the lives of so many people in their hands. What would they do with all that power?

Then the bailiff was calling the court in session, asking all to rise, acknowledging that the Honorable Judge Edison Prudence was presiding.

His gaze swept the courtroom again, looking straight through everyone who stood before them. Once again, he left them standing for an uncomfortable length of time, and then he barked, "What are you waiting for? Sit down!" People practically fell over themselves, dropping back onto their seats.

Seeming pleased with this reaction, Judge Prudence turned to the jury. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" he snapped.

A middle-aged African American woman stood up. "We have, Your Honor," she responded.

"Madame foreman, what say ye?" 

"On the charges of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the jury finds the defendants Michael Corinthos, Jr. and Jason Morgan…"

Time stopped for Courtney and Carly. They were holding hands so tightly that it hurt, but they didn't notice. Their attention was on their men, who were looking back over their shoulders at them. No one could breathe. Ever so slowly, the woman's voice broke through time…

_"…not guilty."_

Courtney felt the air explode out of her chest as she could breathe again. She couldn't believe it. Had she heard correctly? The courtroom erupted around her, everyone cheering. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jax and AJ slouching out the door. People were embracing. Elizabeth put her arms around Lucky, Emily threw hers around Zander…and yet here she was standing here, while her fiancé was being uncuffed…

Courtney flew across the aisle into Jason's arms, crying and laughing at the same time. She hugged him hard, pulled away just long enough to see the love radiating from his eyes, and then hugged him again. She was back in his arms. Back where she belonged. And she was never leaving again.

---------------

It took a long time for everyone to settle down, but eventually the court was adjourned, Sonny and Jason cleared of all charges. Outside the courtroom in the hall, the two happy couples accepted congratulations from those supporting them, and snide comments from those who didn't. Jax, AJ, and Baldwin stopped by to say that Jason and Sonny would someday get what was coming to them. The four rolled their eyes and turned their backs on them. They weren't going to let anyone ruin this moment.

Finally, the flood of congratulations were over and Courtney could steal a moment alone with Jason. She pulled him aside, holding both his hands as she looked upat him.

"There's something I need to tell you."

Jason looked down at her, concern written all over his face.

"…about our baby girl." She smiled shyly.

Jason stared at her for awhile, blinking and trying to form words. Finally, he got them out. "It's a girl? We're having a girl?"

Courtney nodded, taking his hands and pressing them against her round belly, unable to contain her joy. "We're having a perfectly healthy baby girl."

It took a moment for that to register. "The ultrasound came out fine?"

Courtney nodded again, with a smile so wide it almost hurt. Jason pulled her into his arms.

--------------

"What do you suppose Courtney's telling him?" Sonny asked his wife, being as nosy as ever.

"Oh, I don't know," Carly said innocently. "Maybe that their baby girl is in perfect health and ready to come into this world this December?"

Sonny look at her, dimples showing. "Really?"

"Really. We're going to have a niece." Carly put her arms around him for the hundredth time.

"Excuse me?" They turned to Elizabeth, who was standing a few feet away looking extremely nervous. "I hate to interrupt, but there's something I need to tell you." 

Everyone fell silent, giving her the floor.

"I'm leaving town. There's just too many bad memories, and, for now, I need to be some place where I can start over, and just think about today. And there's something I needed to say before I go." She turned so her focus was entirely on Jason and Courtney. "I want to apologize to both of you."

"Oh, Elizabeth. You don't have to apologize for anything."

Elizabeth shook her head, disregarding Courtney's objection. "Yes, I do. I have behaved horribly towards both of you, and why? Because you found love and happiness with each other. That's not wrong. That is the most precious, the most right thing in the world. And the best part about what you have is that it's _real_. You love each other, and it's based on truth and honesty. You both deserve to be happy. I wish you both the best. Your baby is the luckiest in the world."

"Elizabeth." Courtney pulled her into a hug, a first for both of them. "You take good care of yourself. I hope you're happy, no matter where you are."

Elizabeth went on to hug Jason, and then Sonny.

"Hey, good luck," he wished her.

Next was Carly. "All right, I cannot believe I'm doing this. It must be hormones. Come here you." She extended her arms and pulled the younger brunette into a hug.

Elizabeth laughed. "Goodbye, Carly."

And then Elizabeth went to Lucky, who put his arm around her and lead her down the corridor, out of sight, to her future, whatever and wherever it might be.

Carly brought her hands together with a loud _crack_, making everyone jump. "All right! Now we have a wedding to plan!"

"Carly, can't you just give them a minute to maybe breathe?" Sonny suggested with a bit more force than a suggestion should have. He was rewarded with a glare.

Jason wasn't paying attention anyone but Courtney. He was looking down at his wife, his arm slung over his shoulders. They'd been kept apart for so long, against their will. Now there was nothing stopping them from being together. "Let's get married, tonight."

Courtney's only response was to smile. She wasn't at all surprised by the proposal. It just felt right.

Carly frowned. "That doesn't give us a whole lot of time."

Courtney slipped her hand into Jason's, losing herself completely in his eyes and not caring that everyone could see it. "We don't need time. All we need is each other."

---------------


	33. Epilogue

**The Fallout**

**Epilogue**

As she flipped through the photo album, Courtney Morgan couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at the realization that a year had really gone by since she and Jason had declared their undying love for each other in the eyes of God and men by exchanging their wedding vows. It was funny that after all the planning Carly had put into what was to be their June wedding, that they would end up getting married in a small outdoor ceremony surrounded by family and close friends. It was even more funny that Carly didn't even seem to mind. She was too preoccupied with being overjoyed about the marriage of her two best friends.

She could remember the guests all standing up in acknowledgement of her arrival, except for Zander in his wheelchair, watching her cross the grass to her future. She could remember that while it was nice to have other people there—Emily, Zander, Michael, Leticia, Mike, Elizabeth, Lucky, Monica, Alan, even her dog Rosie—all that really mattered was the three people waiting for her at the end of the aisle—Carly, Sonny, Jason—her family, reunited at last, hopefully never to be separated again.

Most of all she could remember him, and the look on his face when he saw her crossing the grass to him, all dressed in white and ready to promise that she was his, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, as long as they both should live. She'd seen pure devotion in his eyes, and that same feeling was reflected in her own. Before she'd even handed her bouquet to Carly and joined hands with Jason, they'd already exchanged vows just through the way they looked at each other.

The reception was a small affair. They shared a first dance together, and she could remember how everyone had watched, and how she would have thought that would make Jason uncomfortable but he didn't seem to care because he only had eyes for Courtney. Later, Sonny and Carly had danced, too, and her brother had laughed like she'd never heard him laugh and never imagined she would ever hear him laugh after three months in prison. She'd laughed with him, and she'd cried a little, too, because she knew it meant he was free, and not only from Scotty's trumped up murder charges, but from his past, as well.

It wasn't long before Elizabeth and Lucky made their way to the dance floor, and Courtney had thought she'd seen the potential there for something more between them. Her instincts must have been right, because here it was, a year later, and Elizabeth hadn't ended up leaving town for long, coming back to rekindle her relationship with Lucky. Courtney couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for Elizabeth to trust again after everything Ric had put her through, and she couldn't be happier that the other girl had reconnected with someone who truly cared about her.

But it wasn't Courtney's dance with Jason, or Sonny's with Carly, or Elizabeth's with Lucky that stole the show that night and left all others clapping and cheering. It was when Zander rolled on over to Emily, and asked her to share this dance with him, and struggled to stand up, and slow danced with her to an entire song before having to sit back down again. Emily had been crying and Courtney had, too, knowing how monumental Zander's progress—which he hadn't told anyone, let alone Emily, about—was. A year later, and they were still going strong, Zander's recovery nearly complete and Emily's breast cancer in remission.

And then Carly had gone into labor, giving birth to Morgan Corinthos some hours later, topping off an incredible day.

Courtney closed the photo album with a smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" her husband asked her, as he came out of the kitchen with their baby girl Lila Morgan in his arms.

"I'm smiling about our life," Courtney said, as she got up to help him feel Lila. "We have the perfect life. Don't we, Lila?"

Lila giggled.

_And they all lived happily ever after (in my world)…_

**THE END**

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all of my readers! It has been 7 years since the last update and I figure it is high time for you to have the final chapter, although I am sure everyone knew what was going to happen.


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